<s>
.nfo	B-Protocol
(	O
also	O
written	O
.NFO	B-Protocol
or	O
NFO	O
,	O
a	O
contraction	O
of	O
"	O
info	O
"	O
,	O
or	O
"	O
information	O
"	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
filename	O
extension	O
for	O
text	O
files	O
that	O
accompany	O
warez	B-Application
scene	I-Application
releases	O
of	O
pirated	O
software	O
or	O
media	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
contain	O
information	O
about	O
the	O
release	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
digital	O
media	O
title	O
,	O
authorship	O
,	O
year	O
,	O
or	O
license	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
usually	O
contain	O
release	O
information	O
about	O
the	O
media	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
NFO	B-Protocol
file	I-Protocol
is	O
for	O
software	O
,	O
product	O
installation	O
notes	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
found	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
are	O
also	O
often	O
found	O
in	O
demoscene	O
productions	O
,	O
where	O
the	O
respective	O
groups	O
include	O
them	O
for	O
credits	O
,	O
contact	O
details	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
software	O
requirements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
README	O
files	O
,	O
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
often	O
contain	O
elaborate	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
art	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
were	O
first	O
introduced	O
by	O
"	O
Fabulous	O
Furlough	O
"	O
of	O
the	O
elite	O
PC	B-Device
warez	B-Application
organization	O
called	O
The	O
Humble	O
Guys	O
,	O
or	O
THG	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
THG	O
group	O
would	O
first	O
upload	O
their	O
package	O
to	O
their	O
world	O
headquarters	O
,	O
"	O
Candyland	O
BBS	B-Application
"	O
or	O
later	O
"	O
The	O
P.I.T.S.	O
</s>
<s>
BBS	B-Application
"	O
,	O
to	O
establish	O
distribution	O
immediately	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
organizations	O
are	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
warez	B-Application
groups	I-Application
or	O
crack	B-Application
groups	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
use	O
came	O
in	O
1990	O
on	O
the	O
THG	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
PC	B-Device
game	O
Knights	B-Application
of	I-Application
Legend	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
perpetuation	O
of	O
this	O
file	O
extension	O
legacy	O
was	O
carried	O
on	O
by	O
warez	B-Application
groups	I-Application
which	O
followed	O
after	O
THG	O
and	O
is	O
still	O
in	O
use	O
to	O
this	O
day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hence	O
its	O
strong	O
presence	O
on	O
Usenet	B-Application
newsgroups	O
that	O
carry	O
binaries	O
and	O
on	O
P2P	O
file	O
trading	O
networks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Humble	O
Guys	O
later	O
became	O
a	O
demogroup	O
,	O
thus	O
bringing	O
the	O
.nfo	B-Protocol
file	O
tradition	O
into	O
the	O
demoscene	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
than	O
forty	O
thousand	O
demoscene	O
productions	O
have	O
an	O
NFO	B-Protocol
file	I-Protocol
next	O
to	O
the	O
program	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
was	O
introduced	O
,	O
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
also	O
sometimes	O
used	O
ANSI-escape	O
sequences	O
to	O
generate	O
animated	O
ASCII	O
art	O
(	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
art	I-Protocol
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
animations	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
required	O
ANSI.SYS	O
to	O
be	O
loaded	O
by	O
the	O
DOS	B-Operating_System
shell	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
computer	O
was	O
n't	O
already	O
configured	O
to	O
load	O
the	O
ANSI.SYS	O
driver	O
,	O
viewing	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
art	I-Protocol
required	O
reconfiguring	O
and	O
rebooting	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
this	O
,	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
art	I-Protocol
was	O
much	O
less	O
common	O
,	O
and	O
getting	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
art	I-Protocol
to	O
display	O
correctly	O
on	O
a	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
PC	B-Device
often	O
proved	O
more	O
difficult	O
,	O
leading	O
to	O
a	O
decline	O
of	O
such	O
art	O
in	O
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Recently	O
to	O
aid	O
internationalization	O
,	O
instead	O
of	O
using	O
the	O
old	O
code	O
page	O
437	O
extended	B-Protocol
ASCII	I-Protocol
characters	O
,	O
modern	O
ASCII	O
art	O
uses	O
the	O
current	O
de	O
facto	O
web	O
standard	O
ISO-8859-1/ISO	O
-8859-15	O
or	O
Unicode	O
UTF-8	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
files	O
have	O
been	O
explained	O
as	O
essentially	O
being	O
the	O
press	O
releases	O
of	O
the	O
warez	B-Application
scene	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
are	O
commonly	O
associated	O
with	O
warez	B-Application
groups	I-Application
who	O
include	O
them	O
to	O
declare	O
credit	O
of	O
said	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
were	O
ubiquitous	O
,	O
and	O
sometimes	O
required	O
,	O
during	O
the	O
era	O
of	O
the	O
BBS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
typical	O
warez	B-Application
NFO	B-Protocol
file	I-Protocol
was	O
elaborate	O
and	O
highly	O
decorated	O
,	O
and	O
usually	O
included	O
a	O
large	O
ASCII	O
art	O
logo	O
along	O
with	O
software	O
release	O
and	O
extended	O
warez	B-Application
group	I-Application
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
most	O
important	O
information	O
is	O
which	O
group	O
,	O
which	O
cracker	B-Application
and	O
which	O
member	O
actually	O
tested	O
and	O
packaged	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
designers	O
of	O
these	O
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
,	O
who	O
worked	O
closely	O
or	O
within	O
the	O
warez	B-Application
groups	I-Application
,	O
frequently	O
incorporated	O
extended	B-Protocol
ASCII	I-Protocol
characters	O
from	O
the	O
character	O
set	O
code	O
page	O
437	O
in	O
the	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
2019	O
,	O
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
can	O
still	O
be	O
found	O
in	O
many	O
ZIP	B-General_Concept
archives	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
modern-day	O
warez	B-Application
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
,	O
a	O
large	O
ASCII	O
art	O
logo	O
is	O
frequently	O
shown	O
at	O
the	O
top	O
,	O
followed	O
by	O
textual	O
information	O
below	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
home	O
theater	O
software	O
Kodi	B-Application
uses	O
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
for	O
its	O
library	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Plex	O
Media	O
Server	O
uses	O
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
for	O
match	O
movie	O
library	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Filebot	O
app	O
fetch	O
artwork	O
and	O
create	O
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
for	O
TV	O
shows	O
or	O
movies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
are	O
also	O
used	O
by	O
media	O
managers	O
ViMediaManager	O
,	O
tinyMediaManager	O
,	O
Ember	O
Media	O
Manager	O
,	O
CouchPotato	O
-	O
a	O
usenet	B-Application
and	O
torrents	O
client	O
,	O
MediaElch	O
,	O
TV	O
show	O
organiser	O
Media	O
Companion	O
,	O
digital	O
media	O
library	O
manager	O
Media	O
Center	O
Master	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
NFO	O
plug-in	O
is	O
also	O
available	O
for	O
Opus	B-Language
,	O
an	O
open	O
access	O
repositories	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
are	O
plain	O
text	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
simplest	O
method	O
to	O
view	O
is	O
using	O
a	O
text	B-Application
editor	I-Application
and	O
selecting	O
a	O
monospace	O
font	O
and	O
set	O
"	O
US	O
Latin	O
"	O
or	O
"	O
extended	B-Protocol
ASCII	I-Protocol
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
using	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Notepad	I-Application
the	O
Terminal	O
font	O
set	O
to	O
11pt	O
usually	O
produced	O
a	O
good	O
rendering	O
of	O
ascii	O
art	O
on	O
common	O
CRTs	B-Device
of	O
the	O
time	O
and	O
could	O
be	O
set	O
as	O
the	O
default	O
viewer	O
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
web	O
browsers	O
use	O
an	O
incompatible	O
alternative	O
encoding	O
scheme	O
resulting	O
in	O
incorrect	O
rendering	O
of	O
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
many	O
modern	O
text	B-Application
editors	I-Application
often	O
use	O
proportional	O
fonts	O
whereas	O
the	O
ASCII	O
art	O
included	O
in	O
both	O
old	O
and	O
new	O
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
is	O
heavily	O
dependent	O
on	O
the	O
file	O
being	O
viewed	O
with	O
a	O
fixed-width	O
font	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
this	O
reason	O
dedicated	O
NFO	O
viewers	O
are	O
available	O
which	O
are	O
text	B-Application
editors	I-Application
with	O
appropriate	O
fonts	O
(	O
Terminus	O
)	O
and	O
encoding	O
settings	O
,	O
automatic	O
window	O
size	O
and	O
clickable	O
hyperlinks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
the	O
NFO	O
filename	O
extension	O
is	O
associated	O
with	O
a	O
Microsoft	O
software	O
tool	O
called	O
System	B-Application
Information	I-Application
(	O
msinfo32.exe	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
System	B-Application
Information	I-Application
provides	O
a	O
general	O
overview	O
of	O
a	O
computer	O
's	O
system	O
specifications	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
detailed	O
information	O
on	O
the	O
system	O
's	O
hardware	O
components	O
and	O
information	O
about	O
the	O
Windows	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
that	O
are	O
meant	O
for	O
System	B-Application
Information	I-Application
contain	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
information	O
that	O
System	B-Application
Information	I-Application
displays	O
saved	O
in	O
an	O
XML	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
