Whenever you download a Pirated software, it generally comes with a NFO or DIZ file. Thought it doesn’t have directly to do with cracking your software but question arises- What is it and How to Open NFO file or read DIZ file?
What is NFO File
Well, NFO is an acronym for Info or Information. It is a Text file which contains information about the cracker who is responsible for making keygen of a software or crack it to make it usable for free. It was first used in the late 1980s by a cracking group named The Humble Guys (THG).
Information consist of the symbol/signature and contact details of the Pirate/Warez group who cracked the software and released it. This is generally in ASCII art.
One of the example could be: Signature of popular TSRh piracy group.
Apart from Signature, NFO contains notes and information about the software it was bundled it. How to crack, Notes, etc are generally included in it.
What is FILE_ID DIZ
According to Wikipedia, FILE_ID stands for “file identification”. DIZ stands for Description In Zipfile. In addition, when written in lowercase and rotated 180 degrees, the ‘diz’ file extension looks like ‘zip’.
FILE_ID DIZ also contains same information and it is a plain text file similar to NFO.
Unable to Open NFO / FILE_ID DIZ
When you double click on NFO to open and read contents, you get error: System Information cannot open this NFO file. It might be corrupted or an unrecognized version.
This happens because Windows hasn’t associated that filetype correctly. It is considering NFO as System Information file and hence opens System Properties window.
FILE_ID DIZ however remains unrecognized by operating system so you can double click on it and then choose Notepad as program to open.
How to Open it / NFO viewer
As I said, it is a text file, you can open it in Notepad (for windows) or any text editor for other operating systems. Right click on NFO file and select open with.. followed by Notepad.
If you still want a dedicated application as NFO reader to open and view NFO files then you may try following programs:
Download NFO Reader / DIZ Viewer
For Windows: NFOpad / Microsoft Notepad /
For Mac: Apple Text Edit
For Linux: NFO Viewer
Online NFO Viewer: NFOmation
Some NFO viewer are capable of viewing DIZ file too like DIZzy and GetDIZ.