
Warning: Executables are also used to spread trojans and other malicious programs. For example self-extracting archives (such as RAR), use exe file extension for the first part, because it also contains the executable code. exe files can also contain various other data, such as program icons. Pretty much every program has one or more executables to start it, as such it is probably one of the most used file formats. These files can be found in 16-bit, 32-bit as well as 64-bit versions.

There are several versions of this file format, but all serve the same purpose - to start a program.ĮXE format was, and still is utilized in many operating system, including MS-DOS, Windows, OS/2, OpenVMS and others. The exe file extension is traditionally used for program executable file since the time of first DOS.
