BCPIO file format description

Many people share .bcpio files without attaching instructions on how to use it. Yet it isn’t evident for everyone which program a .bcpio file can be edited, converted or printed with. On this page, we try to provide assistance for handling .bcpio files.

1 filename extension(s) found in our database.

.bcpio - Binary CPIO Archive

The BCPIO archive files are related to Pax (Unix). The BCPIO file is a Binary CPIO Archive. It is an old binary cpio format. The default blocksize for this format is 5120 bytes. This format is not very portable and should not be used when other formats are available. Inode and device information about a file (used for detecting file hard links by this format) which may be truncated by this format is detected by pax and is repaired.

Application:

Pax (Unix)

Category:

Archive files

Mime-type:

application/x-bcpio

Magic:

- / -

Aliases:

Binary CPIO Archive related extensions:

.ebk: Kryptel Backup File
.sar: Squeak Archive
.upx: UPX Compressed File
.ztmp: Valve Steam Compressed Game Resource
.sarc: Wii U SARC Archive
.rwp: RapidWeaver Webp Package

Naturally, other applications may also use the .bcpio file extension. Even harmful programs can create .bcpio files. Be especially cautious with .bcpio files coming from an unknown source!

Can't open a .bcpio file?

When you double-click a file to open it, Windows examines the filename extension. If Windows recognizes the filename extension, it opens the file in the program that is associated with that filename extension. When Windows does not recognize a filename extension, you receive the following message:

Windows can't open this file:

example.bcpio

To open this file, Windows needs to know what program you want to use to open it. Windows can go online to look it up automatically, or you can manually select one from a list of programs that are installed on your computer.

To avoid this error, you need to set the file association correctly.

Open Control Panel > Control Panel Home > Default Programs > Set Associations.
Select a file type in the list and click Change Program.

The .bcpio file extension is often given incorrectly!

According to the searches on our site, these misspellings were the most common in the past year:

cpio

Is it possible that the filename extension is misspelled?

Similar file extensions in our database:

.cpio: CPIO Archive

Operating systems

DataTypes.net currently supports the following operating systems:

Windows XP/Vista, Windows 7/8/10, Windows 11, CentOS, Debian GNU/Linux, Ubuntu Linux, FreeBSD, macOS, Mac OS X, iOS, Android

If you find the information on this page useful, please feel free to link to this page.

https://datatypes.net/open-bcpio-files

If you have useful information about the .bcpio file format, then write to us!