Generic database file extension could be created by a number of different database programs. These types of files may also be imported into multiple database programs. If Windows is unable to open DB files you may not have the appropriate program installed or may have a registry related error. Some programs that can open DB database files include: Oracle databases, Windows XP thumbnail databases, Paradox databases, Novell GroupWise Address databases, MS Access, Mozilla Client Certificate more.

One of the most common questions we get is what is the Thumbs.db file? And is it safe to delete it?

The default behavior for many folders in Windows XP is to display thumbnail images of the files in the folder. The most common folder that has this feature enabled by default is My Pictures folder in My Documents. My Pictures displays files as thumbnails, because it is mostly used to store pictures. This is also true for folders created from digital cameras. Thumbs.db is Microsoft's way of caching thumbnail images of any image or movie file in a folder. The idea behind creating a thumbnail cache is to improve the speed of displaying thumbnails the next time you open the folder by caching a set of thumbnails for the image and video files in the folder. If you hadn't seen this file in your folders previously it's likely you didn't have Show hidden files and folders enabled. Deleting the Thumbs.db file simply deletes that cache, which is regenerated the next time you view the folder contents. It is possible to configure Windows to never cache thumbnails.

One of the biggest annoyances to the Thumbs.db file is the way it changes folder settings. You can specifically set all folders in Windows to open in List view, for instance. If any folder contains a Thumbs.db file, that folder reverts to the thumbnail view, ignoring your preferences.

Another drawback of the Thumbs.db file is that it takes up disk space. Although this space is very small in most cases, if you have a lot of Thumbs.db files littering your hard drive you may be able to save some valuable space by removing them. Follow the steps below to turn off the creation of this file and delete the Thumbs.db files that are on your hard drive.

To turn off thumbnail caching on all windows, go to Tools >> Options in My Computer's menu bar and click on the View tab. Check the box next to Do not cache thumbnails and click OK. Viola! There you have it.

Many file extensions are used by more than one application, and you need to know which files belong to which application. If you try to open Thumbs.db with Microsoft Access you will get rubbish data not in human readable form, or Microsoft Access will tell you that it cannot open the files. This is because even though MS Acess can open database files with a db file extension, Thumbs.db is NOT a database file.