.ABK File Extension

Backup file created by various programs, including CorelDRAW, Ability Office Write, and PrintMaster Gold; contains a backup of the a currently opened document or project; used to recover program data in the event of a computer crash or file corruption.

NOTE: ABK files typically are not meant to be opened directly. Typically, the program that created them will guide users in the process of recovering any lost data.

An ABK file is an audio archive used by a Need for Speed video game, such as Need for Speed: Underground, Most Wanted (2005), Carbon, or Undercover. It contains sound effects, dialogue, or music played in the game.

Need for Speed is a series of racing video games published by Electronic Arts (EA). Many games in the series store most of their sound effects, dialogue, and music in ABK archives. (Engine acceleration and deceleration sounds are instead stored in GIN files.)

Each audio clip an ABK file contains is stored in a separate audio file. Players have created utilities that allow them to extract these audio files and convert them to the .WAV format.

You can use player-created ABK decoder scripts to extract the audio clips an ABK file contains and convert them to the .WAV format. The scripts may work with ABK files from only certain games.

File used by Arena, a freeware graphical user interface used by chess engines; contains "opening book" moves, which store opening strategies for an artificial intelligence player; may contain millions of predefined moves.

ABK files are used to reduce the computational expense of determining optimal strategies for the first several moves of a chess game.