Preliminary information
Before I go ahead and explain to you, in fact, how to open BIN file, it seems only right that you clarify your ideas about the nature of this type of file.
In most cases, files with the BIN extension (which stands for "binary") are CD and DVD images that you can mount and view on virtual drives or burn to physical discs, using a series of programs easily available online. Packages of this type are usually accompanied by a file of type CUE, which is a small text document containing instructions to mount, open or burn it correctly.
In other cases, however, this file category can be used for distribute firmware of routers and other devices, including smartphones and tablets or ROMs designed for PC console emulators (eg emulators for PS1, PS2, NDS, etc.). Such files cannot be viewed in any way, but must be opened directly through the software for which they are designed (for example from the router management panel, in the case of a file containing firmware, or from the emulator, in the case of games).
Again, BIN files can be executable and, in fact, represent real programs: this eventuality is not at all rare on operating systems MacOS e Linux, as they are designed for “native” execution of this file category. Even on Windows it is possible to come across BIN files containing binary code, however they are usually called from other well-known file types, such as those .exe.
In short, as you have surely already understood, it is not easy to guess the true nature of a BIN file at a glance, however it is possible to get an idea of its content by analyzing the context in which it was downloaded: if, for example, you were Looking for a PC game or audio CD and you have come face to face with BIN and CUE files, it is very likely that they contain a burnable image.
If, on the other hand, the BIN file in your possession is connected to a router or, in general, to the update of some device, in all probability it contains a firmware. Again, if you've come across this type of file looking for a Linux program, chances are it can be run from the terminal.
The subject of this guide will be to teach you how to mount BIN files containing CD and DVD images and to launch BIN executables containing binary code: I assure you that it is much easier than you think.
How to open BIN file on PC
Having made the necessary clarifications, the time has come to get to the heart of this guide and to explain, in practice, how to open BIN files on PCs animated by Windows, MacOS e Ubuntu.
How to open BIN files on Windows
As mentioned above, BIN files, in many cases, are CD and DVD images to mount / explore or burn. For this reason, it is essential that on the computer there is a program capable of fulfilling this purpose: in this regard, in order to avoid wasting diskettes, I recommend that you rely on AnyBurn, one of the best software for viewing and burning image files of various types, including BINs. AnyBurn is free and works on all popular Windows versions.
To get it, connected to its official website, click on the button Download located at the top and then on the download link that best suits your operating system (eg. Download AnyBurn v5.0 (64-bit), if you are running a 64-bit version of Windows), in order to start downloading the program installation file.
Once the download is complete, run the package obtained (eg. anyburn_setup_x64.exe) and click on the buttons Yes, Accept, Install, NEXT e end, to finish the AnyBurn installation and start the software.
You are finally ready to view the contents of the BIN file: once you reach the AnyBurn main screen, click on the button Browse / extract image files, press the button in the shape of gialla poster located on the next screen and, using the File Explorer panel, select the file BIN you are interested in opening and clicking on the buttons NEXT e OK.
If everything went well, you should now view the content of the image you just uploaded: to extract all the files contained in it and be able to open them later, click on the button NEXT, choose the folder in which to save them and press the button again NEXT to proceed with saving the files.
If, on the other hand, you want to burn the image on a disk, you must check that, together with the BIN file, there is also another file with the same name but with the extension CUE: it is a small text document that contains the instructions necessary for the correct burning of the BIN file.
If your BIN image does not have a CUE file, fear not, you can easily create one using any text editor you have available (even the Block notes Windows is fine): all you need to do is start creating a new document and type the following into it.
FILE "filename.bin" BINARY
TRACK 01 MODE1 / 2352
INDEX 01 00: 00: 00
Instead of filename.bin, type the exact name of the BIN image, then save the file and name it the same name as the BIN file, but be careful to put the extension . Cue (make sure it's not there . Txt after . Cue). If you don't know how to proceed, you can also follow the directions I gave you in my tutorial on how to rename a file.
Once the .CUE file has been created, you can proceed to burn the image to disc using AnyBurn: after opening the program in question, click on the button Burn image files to disc, then on the shaped button gialla poster, to select the CUE file created previously and, once you have made your choice, use the remaining fields of the window to select the burner to use for copying, the writing speed and the options of data verification and ejecting the disc after burning is complete.
When you are ready, click on the button Burn and wait for the contents of the BIN file to be written to the disk: this procedure may take several minutes.
How do you say? Do you have a copy of the DAEMON Tools program and, instead of installing additional software, would you like to use it to display a BIN image? Nothing simpler. However, keep in mind that, even in this case, you will need the CUE file "accompanying" the BIN image: if it is not present, create it by following the instructions I mentioned earlier.
Anyway, for open BIN files with DAEMON Tools, you must first create a virtual drive on which to mount it: to proceed, start the aforementioned software, click on the icon Quickly mount located at the bottom left and, using the next screen, double-click the file CUE related to the image of your interest.
If everything went well, after a few moments, you should see a window of theFile Explorer containing the files included in the image: you can act in this window exactly as if you were using a CD / DVD. To "unmount" the image, go back to the main DAEMON Tools screen, position the mouse on the preview of the CUE file previously edited and first press on the eject button which appears at the top and then on the (X) red, in order to completely disable the virtual drive.
To burn the BIN / CUE file to disc instead, you have to use the function Burn DAEMON Tools, available only in the paid version of the program: click on the buttons Burn e Burn an image and, using the next screen, select the file CUE and define your burning options. When you are done, click on the button Burn And that's it.
How to open BIN files on Mac
If what you use is a Mac, it is advisable to convert the BIN file to ISO and mount or burn the latter using theDisk Utility of macOS. To turn the BIN file into an ISO image, you must first make sure that the BIN file is present file CUE (if not, you can fix it by following the steps indicated in the previous section of this guide).
After this verification, you can entrust the actual conversion to Bchunk, a free application that, although it can only be used from the command line, allows you to complete the task in no time.
The quickest and easiest way to get Bchunk on macOS is to use Homebrew, an efficient package manager that can also be used from the command line: to get it, run the terminal macOS, calling it from the folder Other of Launchpad. and type in it the command you find below.
/ bin / bash -c "$ (curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"
Now, press the button Submit on the keyboard and, when prompted, enter the Password of the Mac, to complete the setup. Once the Homebrew installation is finished, issue, again in the Terminal, the command brew install bchunk, followed by pressing the key Submit, to download the conversion utility.
At this point, you are finally ready to convert the BIN file in your possession into an image in ISO format: "move" to the folder that contains the CUE and BIN files in your possession, issuing the command cd / path_folder followed by pressing the key Submit (e.g. cd ~ / Desktop, to move to the desktop) and, to perform the conversion, type the command bchunk filename.bin filename.cue new image.iso, taking care to replace a filename.bin, filename.cue e nuovaimmagine.iso, respectively, the name of the original BIN file, CUE file name original and the name of theISO image to create.
Once the conversion is complete, you can mount the newly created ISO file by double clicking on its name; if, on the other hand, you are interested in transferring the content of the image to CD / DVD, insert a blank disc into the burner, right-click on the aforementioned file and select the item Burn “[iso name]” disc image to disc from the proposed context menu.
BIN files of type executable, on the other hand, they can be started easily from the Terminal: first of all, taken to the folder containing the file in question, by typing the command cd / folder_name (eg cd ~ / Desktop), assign the execution permissions to the file using the command chmod + x filename.bin and, finally, launch the file by issuing the command ./filename.bin.
How to open BIN files with Ubuntu
The steps to take for open BIN files with Ubuntu are completely similar to those already seen for macOS: it is sufficient to convert the BIN file (with attached CUE file) into an ISO type image and view the contents of the latter through the integrated system manager.
To do this, start the terminal calling it from the Ubuntu Applications area and install bchunk by issuing the command sudo apt update && sudo apt install bchunk, followed by pressing the Enter key on the keyboard (and, if necessary, by entering the administration password Of computer).
At the end of the installation, issue the command cd folder_name to move to the directory containing the CUE / BIN files (eg cd ~ / Desktop) and perform the conversion using the command bchunk filename.bin filename.cue new image.iso.
To view the content of the newly created ISO file, double-click on it to "mount" it and press the image icon which, in the meantime, should have appeared in the launcher bar Ubuntu; to burn ISO image to CD or DVD, you can use the software Brazier, which I told you about in my tutorial on how to burn ISO, available for free in Ubuntu Software.
Even the execution of the BIN files is almost identical to what we saw in the previous section: go to the folder containing the file in question by typing the command cd / folder_name (e.g. cd ~ / Desktop), provide the execution permissions to the file using the command chmod + x filename.bin and, finally, start it by typing the command ./filename.bin.
How to open BIN files on Android and iOS
You stai chiedendo how to open BIN files on Android or on iOS? In that case, the solution may not be easy, as the mobile operating systems from Google and Apple do not offer native support for this category of archives.
Therefore, my advice is to transfer the file in question to a computer and open it using the procedures seen in the previous chapters: in this regard, my guides on how to transfer files from Android to your computer and how to transfer could be extremely useful. data from iPhone to PC.
How to open BIN
