UIF File Extension

The Universal Image Format (UIF) is a disk image file format. This means that an .uif file holds a perfect copy of a CD disc. In this respect an uif file is very similar to the de-facto standard of disk image files – the ISO format. However, .uif files also support several interesting functions that set them apart from the ISO format.

For one, they have built-in support for data compression. This means that your CD/DVD backups in the UIF format would take up less hard-drive space than if you used ISO. The efficiency of the compression varies – software, HTML and text documents usually compress well. On the other hand, Video-CD, Audio-CD, DVD-Video and other multimedia formats can be compressed only slightly or not at all.

Additional features of the UIF format are password-protection and encryption for your more sensitive data. The format also supports the MD5 checksum algorithm, which is useful to verify that a file hasn’t been damaged or infected with malware.

Now that I’ve listed all the appealing features of this format, you might be wondering “where’s the catch?” Sure enough there is one, and this is it – the .uif file extension/format is a proprietary one, which means that most disk utilities can’t open it. These files can only be opened with MagicISO (shareware). So to get the full benefits of this novel disk image format you’d have to shell out around $30 bucks.

The other unpleasant aspect of UIF files is the aforementioned incompatibility with other CD/DVD tools. For example, if you send an .uif file to a friend, chances are they won’t be able to open it and will be forced to go looking for a way to convert the UIF to ISO.

In conclusion, while the UIF file format has several appealing features, I wouldn’t recommend it for anything other than infrequent personal use.

Related posts:

1. How To Unzip Linux Archive Files Let me say some words about TAR archives. .tar is...
2. Why You Need a Total Video Converter How often has your relative emailed an AVI video clip...
3. How to File an Individual Income Tax Return Form 2009, 2010 Have you earned enough money in the past year that...
4. Entertainment electronics devices so as digital versatile disc players It all was not really that long ago that VHS...
5. How to File an Individual Income Tax Return Online Every year, it becomes easier and easier to file your...