Extract text from PC-98 hard disk images (HDI)
To convert HDI disk images to another format, you need Neko Project II or other Disk Image software.
To convert other file formats to the "Emulator Disk Image" file type, you need software like Neko Project II or a similar tool.
The .hdi file extension primarily represents a PC-98 Hard Disk Image, utilized by emulators like Neko Project II and Anex86 to run legacy software designed for the Japanese NEC PC-9801 computers. These files store an exact sector-by-sector copy of a physical hard drive. Alternatively, .hdi files function as Heidi Device Interface drivers (internally EXE files) used by AutoCAD for plotter devices, or as HotDocs Document Interview archives (internally ZIP files) used by LexisNexis software.
The primary disadvantage of the PC-98 .hdi format is its obsolete and highly specialized nature. Files usually contain legacy file systems that modern operating systems like Windows or macOS cannot mount natively. This severely restricts access to the archived retro games or data. Furthermore, AutoCAD drivers and HotDocs archives share the exact same extension, causing frequent file association conflicts in Windows.
For disk images, extracting files to an accessible format like ZIP or converting the raw data to IMG or ISO is highly recommended, though PC-98 specific boot sector data will likely be lost. For HotDocs files, the best conversion target is simply ZIP.
Converting these files is notoriously difficult because standard extraction tools do not recognize PC-98 disk headers or legacy Japanese partition tables. Often, only the original emulator or specialized retro-gaming tools like DiskExplorer can properly read or export the data. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your HDI file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted FDI, ZIP, IMG, AD1 and ISO files.
If you want to convert HDI file to ISO, IMG, DMG, VHD, VMDK, VDI, HDD, QCOW, QCOW2, RAW, VBOX or OVA, you can use Neko Project II or similar software from the "PC-98 Hard Disk Image" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert VFD, DMG, OVA, IMA, VBOX, ADF, PVS, VHD, OVF, ISO, DSK or IMG files to HDI, try Neko Project II or another comparable tool in the "PC-98 Hard Disk Image" 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 HDI converter.