Sobre os arquivos CAB
Windows Cabinet
Formato compressão Microsoft (1996). Usado em instaladores Windows (.msi internamente), Office setup. Específico ao ecossistema Microsoft.
Família
Archives & Compressed
Extensão
.cab
Tipo MIME
application/vnd.ms-cab-compressed
Pode ser usado como
COMO NASCEU O
FORMATO CAB.
CAB — Microsoft Cabinet — shipped in 1994 with Windows 95 setup as the installation-archive format that replaced the DIZ/ARJ/ZIP patchwork of the DOS era. The format supports LZX compression (originally from Jonathan Forbes, licensed by Microsoft), MSZIP (a DEFLATE variant), and Quantum. A .cab file can span multiple disks — a design detail that mattered when Windows 95 shipped on 13 floppy disks.
CAB became the backbone of Windows installations for three decades. Every Windows Update, every .msi installer, every Office setup disk, every Service Pack: all built on CAB. Even today, many Windows system files are distributed as CAB archives, and the format is supported natively in Windows 10/11 via the `expand.exe` tool and Windows Explorer.
CURIOSIDADES E
FATOS INTERESSANTES.
Windows 95 shipped on 13 floppy disks — every one a CAB file segment of the installer.
The LZX compression inside CAB came from a program called LZX, originally for Amiga archives, which Microsoft licensed in the early 1990s.
Every Microsoft Office installer (MSI) is backed by CAB archives for the binary payload.
Windows Update delivers patches as CAB files — the Windows Update Agent downloads and extracts them silently.
The format can span disks: a single archive can be split across multiple .cab files with the same basename.
VANTAGENS E
LIMITAÇÕES.
Vantagens
- Multi-volume — designed for disk-spanning archives.
- Multiple compression algorithms in one format.
- Native Windows support for 30+ years.
- Authenticode signing integrates with Windows security stack.
- Microsoft-maintained tooling (MAKECAB, EXTRAC32, expand.exe).
Limitações
- Windows-only ecosystem — limited Mac/Linux tooling.
- Proprietary container with partial public documentation.
- Overtaken by MSI (which uses CAB internally) for new installers.
- Compression ratios lag modern formats (zstd, xz).
Tamanhos típicos de arquivo
Single driver package
100 KB - 20 MB
Windows Update patch
1-500 MB
Service pack archive
200 MB - 2 GB
Especificações técnicas
- MIME type
- application/vnd.ms-cab-compressed
- Extension
- .cab
- Compression
- MSZIP (DEFLATE), Quantum, LZX
- Max volume size
- 2 GB per file
- Multi-volume
- Yes (split archive spanning)
CONVERTER A PARTIR DE
CAB
Casos de uso comuns
Windows installers, drivers
Formatos relacionados
Comparativos populares
CAB vs 7Z
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CAB vs TAR
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CAB vs GZ
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CAB vs BZ2
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CAB vs XZ
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CAB vs LZMA
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Conversões populares de CAB
Os destinos mais procurados ao converter arquivos CAB.
Perguntas frequentes sobre CAB
Perguntas frequentes
CAB (Windows Cabinet) is an archive formato used to bundle multiple arquivos e folders em a single comprimido file. The archive preserves the directory structure e tipicamente reduces total size via compressão. CAB sits no archives & comprimido family e has specific strengths around compressão ratio, speed, ou plataforma support.
7-Zip, WinRAR, The Unarchiver (macOS), e the built-in archive utilities no Windows e macOS abrir most CAB files. para command-line extraction, 7z, unar, ou the formato-specific tool handles CAB cleanly. If your extractor does not recognise CAB, converter to ZIP first — ZIP opens on every operating system sem extra software.
Upload the CAB to KaijuConverter e pick ZIP, 7Z, TAR.GZ, ou RAR como o target. Our pipeline extracts the original archive e re-compresses the contents em the target formato. arquivo permissions, timestamps, e directory structure are preserved where both formatoos support them.
Depends no goal. ZIP is the universal baseline — every OS extracts it out of the box. formatoos like 7Z ou TAR.GZ compress better mas require specific ferramentas. CAB may win on compressão ratio, password support, ou OS integration para specific workflows; ZIP wins on raw compatibilidade.