Extract text from backup indexes (BKI)
To convert BKI indexes to another format, you need DriverBackup! or other Backup software.
To convert other file formats to the "System Restore Index" file type, you need software like DriverBackup! or a similar tool.
A .bki file is primarily associated with DriverBackup! 2, a utility used to create portable backups of Windows device drivers. The file functions as an XML-based index that catalogs the specific hardware IDs, version numbers, and file paths of the backed-up drivers (typically stored in adjacent folders). Users often encounter this file after reformatting a PC, only to realize they cannot simply "open" the backup file to reinstall drivers; they must import the .bki file using the original DriverBackup! utility to initiate a restoration. Because the file is technically a .NET serialized object or XML list, attempting to open it in Microsoft Word or Notepad will often result in unreadable gibberish or a raw data structure that is difficult for humans to interpret.
A secondary but significant use of the .bki extension is for IBM Softcopy Reader "Bookshelf Index" files. These legacy files serve as a catalog for IBM BookManager electronic manuals (common in mainframe environments). Users needing to access these archived documents often find the format incompatible with modern e-readers. The only practical "conversion" for these files is to open them in the original IBM Softcopy Reader and print the content to PDF for archival, or export the text to TXT for modern indexing.
Convert.Guru analyzes your BKI file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted RBC, LBF and QDF-BACKUP files.
If you want to convert BKI file to , you can use DriverBackup! or similar software from the "Driver Backup Index" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert files to BKI, try DriverBackup! or another comparable tool in the "Driver Backup Index" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our BKI converter.