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What is the CSO file extension? What is the CSO format and how to open it in Windows cso file

Answers to questions about what cso is and how files with this extension are opened may be needed by a user who downloaded them to their computer from the network or found them already on their drive.

Information in this format cannot be opened with standard using Windows and other operating systems - for the simple reason that they are not intended for either desktop or mobile PCs.

The extension was created by Sony for its game consoles.

Purpose and features of the format

Only owners of the PlayStation Portable will be able to use .cso files - a small gaming console, modifications of which have a screen with a diagonal of 3.8–4.3", 32–64 MB of RAM and flash memory, expandable using MemoryStick PRO Duo or Memory cards Stick Micro.

The CSO extension is designed to compress games that can be run on these consoles and is alternative option format.dax.

Sony needed to compress data for use on game consoles to save more space in RAM and ROM.

Due to the fact that CSO files had as many as 9 levels of compression, they took up little space, although this conversion sometimes led to lag in games.

They tried to solve it by introducing new formats like .dax And .jso, but due to their shortcomings they were used much less frequently.

The advantage of expanding cso is not only the reduction of space, but also minimal use of the console's built-in storage devices.

This made it possible, to some extent, to increase the service life of the entire console as a whole - although much more often the consoles failed due to problems with the screen and battery.

Several ways to open and create a .cso file

To run .cso files you will need:

copy the file to the ISO folder of the MemoryStick card, which is installed on the PSP console and use the menu of the console itself;
move information to mobile phone with Android OS and run using an emulator like PPSSPP;
run from PC (iOS or Windows) using the same emulators, including PPSSPP, as well as PSP ISO Compressor and CiSO Converter.

It is not always possible to open such files- primarily due to the protection that Sony installs on them to prevent games from being ported to PC.

Thus, even correctly installed and working emulators do not guarantee that a gaming application with an extension will work on a computer or smartphone. cso.

You can create, or rather compress, CSO files using the PSP ISO Compressor converter.

The higher the level of such compression, the less space it will take up space on the console - however, as the size decreases, the time that will have to be spent on converting and then downloading the game increases.

For this reason, it is advisable to choose a compromise between compression quality and startup time.

Problems opening

In cases where the game console cannot read the created image, the reason is usually that the name is too large.

So, for example, a file with a name that consists of 30–40 letters should be renamed, leaving no more than 10–12 characters.

Moreover, in order to perceive CSO format on PSP The appropriate firmware must be installed to support loading this extension.

If the file does not open on your PC, the reason may be:

too much good protection data by Sony;
file corruption;
presence of erroneous links in the registry;
actions of an antivirus program that considers a file with an unknown extension to be a virus;
absence from system disk places to read compressed data;
The appropriate drivers are not installed on the computer.

If the user tried to run the CSO file, taking into account the reasons for the error (that is, temporarily disabling the antivirus, freeing up disk space, or downloading a new, undamaged file).

If the problem cannot be solved, you can stop trying to start it or contact a specialist.

Although sometimes the reason may be that the file belongs to another category that has nothing to do with PSP games.

Another way to use the extension

Sometimes the .cso extension does not denote a game application, but data compiled from the HLSL format, written in a special programming language, High Level Shader Language.

The name of such a CSO object is the same as the name of the source file.

The files are compiled using the special glCompileShader function and require applications such as OpenGL SDK or Microsoft Visual Studio to open.

Whatever you say, the list of formats supported by Windows 10 by default, out of the box, is not that long, and even to view some of them, which are very common, you have to install third-party software. And if this is the case with common formats, then what can we say about formats that are not intended for desktop and mobile computers at all. We will talk about one of these formats today. This CSO is a special disk image used on Sony game consoles, namely the PlayStation Portable.

The CSO format stands for Compressed ISO File and is a compressed version of another UMD disk image created by a special ripper program that allows you to extract content from licensed Sony Playstation Portable or Station Portable discs.

The CSO format was developed in order to save RAM and ROM in set-top boxes, which, as is known, for the most part cannot boast of a sufficient amount of either the first or second type of memory.

But as it turned out, such savings also have their own price, due to high data compression, and CSO uses as many as nine compression levels, game process may slow down. At one time the company tried to solve this problem by replacing CSO with newer DAX and JSO formats, but due to their shortcomings they were not widely used. The internal content of both CSO and UMD consists of executable files of the game itself, as well as video, audio and other game content.

UMD files take up more disk space, but can be viewed outside of the game console, which is not the case with CSO images. Does this mean that it is basically impossible to open a CSO image on a PC? Of course not. You can run it using appropriate emulators. On a Windows computer, the PPSSPP emulator program is best suited for these purposes (if you want to play); at worst, you can use the PSP ISO Compressor and CiSO Converter applications, which allow you to convert CSO to a familiar ISO.

There is, however, a possibility that the CSO file will not open even if the programs we mentioned above are installed on the computer. Most often this happens either due to good Sony protection or due to the lack of suitable drivers on the PC. It is also impossible to rule out damage to the image downloaded from the Internet (check the hash when downloading). If everything is fine with the file, but it does not open on a Windows PC, try doing this on an Android smartphone or tablet by installing the version of PPSSPP or PSP ISO Compressor corresponding to this platform.

What program to open cso file you can choose from the list below!

Extension .cso What is the file format?

The .cso format is probably known to many game console fans, as it is very actively used by many Sony Play Station fans. This format was developed by Sony and is a disc image for game consoles such as Sony Play Station and Play Station Portable. The format itself is a compressed version of the .umd format, and has as many as 9 levels of compression. Naturally, the higher the compression level, the better the compression, but at a high quality level the loading time increases significantly, so in most cases when creating files of this format, a balance should be sought between optimal compression quality and loading time.
This format has considerable popularity, since in Lately The Sony Play Station game console is one of the leaders in the game console market, so you can often encounter files in this format. Their advantage is that they replace the physical media for the game console, which should be noted is very convenient, since in this case the console itself wears out less, and even if the physical media is lost, you can always have access to your any game if it is saved in this format.
Also, .CSO files can be opened on PSP, but in this case, special firmware must be installed on the PSP that supports this format.
This format can be opened with some image recognition programs, for example, PSP ISO Compressor or CiSO Converter. As for creating such files, they are created using the PSP ISO Compressor program.
However, despite the fact that there are programs that are capable of opening a file of this format, their stable operation on a personal computer cannot be guaranteed, since it is known that Sony is investing significant effort in the fight against porting games from its consoles to a personal computer.

Now you know how to open cso and what programs to use for this!

The table below provides useful information o file extension.cso. It answers questions such as:

What is a file? cso?
What software do I need to open the file. cso?
Like a file. cso be opened, edited or printed?
How to convert. cso files to a different format?
Where can I find the specifications for. cso?
The MIME type is associated with the extension. cso?

We hope you find this page a useful and valuable resource!

1 extensions and 0 aliases found in the database

CSO Compressed PSP ISO Image

Description (in English):
CSO file is a CSO Compressed PSP ISO Image. CSO is used to compress dumped Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) UMD games.

MIME type: application/octet-stream

Magic number: -

Sample: -

CSO aliases:

CSO related links:

CSO related extensions:

Other file types may also use the file extension .cso.

The .cso file extension is often given incorrectly!

According to Search our site, these typos were the most common last year:

cs , cco , vso , so , fso, cxo , csl , csi , cos , ceo , xso , sso , sco , dso , csp

Is it possible that the filename extension is incorrect?

We found the following similar file extensions in our database:

Can't open the .cso file?

When you double-click a file to open it, Windows checks the file name extension. If Windows recognizes a filename extension, the file opens in a program that is associated with that filename extension. When Windows does not recognize the file name extension, the following message appears:

Windows can't open this file:

Example.cso

To open this file, Windows needs to know what program you want to use to open it...

If you don't know how to set up file associations .cso, check .

Is it possible to change the file extension?

Changing the file name and file extension is not a good idea. When you change a file extension, you change the way programs on your computer read the file. The problem is that changing the file extension does not change the file format.

If you have installed on your computer antivirus program Can scan all files on your computer, as well as each file individually. You can scan any file by right-clicking on the file and selecting the appropriate option to scan the file for viruses.

For example, in this figure it is highlighted file my-file.cso, then you need to right-click on this file and select the option in the file menu "scan with AVG". When choosing this parameter AVG Antivirus will open and scan the file for viruses.

Sometimes an error may occur as a result incorrect installation software , which may be due to a problem encountered during the installation process. This may interfere with your operating system link your CSO file to the correct application tool, influencing the so-called "file extension associations".

Sometimes simple reinstalling Microsoft Visual Studio may solve your problem by linking CSO correctly with Microsoft Visual Studio. In other cases, problems with file associations may result from bad software programming developer and you may need to contact the developer for further assistance.

Advice: Try updating Microsoft Visual Studio to latest version to make sure you have the latest patches and updates installed.

This may seem too obvious, but often The CSO file itself may be causing the problem. If you received a file via an email attachment or downloaded it from a website and the download process was interrupted (such as a power outage or other reason), the file may become damaged. If possible, try getting a new copy of the CSO file and try opening it again.

Carefully: A damaged file may cause collateral damage to a previous or existing malware on your PC, so it is very important to keep an updated antivirus running on your computer at all times.

If your CSO file related to the hardware on your computer to open the file you may need update device drivers associated with this equipment.

This problem usually associated with media file types, which depend on successfully opening the hardware inside the computer, e.g. sound card or video card. For example, if you are trying to open an audio file but cannot open it, you may need to update sound card drivers.

Advice: If when you try to open a CSO file you receive .SYS file error message, the problem could probably be associated with corrupted or outdated device drivers that need to be updated. This process can be made easier by using driver update software such as DriverDoc.

If the steps do not solve the problem and you are still having problems opening CSO files, this may be due to lack of available system resources. Some versions of CSO files may require a significant amount of resources (e.g. memory/RAM, processing power) to properly open on your computer. This problem is quite common if you are using fairly old computer hardware and at the same time a much newer operating system.

This problem can occur when the computer has difficulty completing a task because operating system(and other services running in the background) can consume too many resources to open the CSO file. Try closing all applications on your PC before opening Compiled Shader Object File. Freeing up all available resources on your computer will provide the best conditions for attempting to open the CSO file.

If you completed all the steps described above and your CSO file still won't open, you may need to run equipment update. In most cases, even when using older versions of hardware, the processing power can still be more than sufficient for most user applications (unless you're doing a lot of CPU-intensive work, such as 3D rendering, financial/scientific modeling, or intensive multimedia work) . Thus, it is likely that your computer does not have enough memory(commonly called "RAM" or random access memory) to perform the task of opening a file.