HWD Converter

Extract text from HWD files

Select File
Drop or upload your .HWD file

Online File Converter

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How to extract text from your HWD file

Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your HWD file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.

Convert HWD to another file type

To convert your HWD file to another format, you need Hardwar or other Game software.

Convert a file to HWD

To convert other file formats to the "Vehicle Model / Hardware Definition" file type, you need software like Hardwar or a similar tool.

About HWD files

The .HWD extension is a classic 'container collision' - a single filename extension shared by three completely unrelated, incompatible formats. Most commonly (approx. 23%), it represents a Vehicle Model or data script from the 1998 sci-fi trading game Hardwar. These files contain 3D geometry or game logic specific to The Software Refinery's engine and are essentially 'locked' inside the legacy game environment.

In industrial contexts (approx. 12%), an HWD file is a Hardware Definition used by Danfoss PLUS+1 GUIDE. This file acts as a digital 'driver' for hydraulic or electronic controllers, telling the IDE exactly what input/output pins and features a specific piece of hardware possesses. Finally, in legacy Korean IT environments, it may be a document created by the Arirang word processor.

The Friction:

Proprietary Lock-in: Hardwar files utilize a binary format that modern 3D tools like Blender cannot import without obscure fan-made scripts.
Industrial Restrictions: Danfoss HWD files are useless without the licensed PLUS+1 development environment.
Legacy Obsolescence: Arirang documents are effectively 'dead text' unless you have the original 1990s software or a specialized viewer to print them to PDF.

Conversion & Handling:

For Inspection: Open the file in a hex editor or Notepad++. If you see plain text descriptions of 'Pinouts' or 'BIOS', it is a Danfoss file.
For Archiving (Arirang): If you can access the original software, immediately 'Print to File' to generate a PDF or PDF/A for long-term preservation.
For Modding (Hardwar): Conversion is generally not possible without hex editing; dragging these into a standard converter usually results in an 'Unknown Format' error.

Convert.Guru analyzes your HWD file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.

Users also converted HWP, CY, PTS and AT2 files.

FAQ

If you want to convert HWD file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use Hardwar or similar software from the "Hardwar Game Vehicle Model" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….

To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to HWD, try Hardwar or another comparable tool in the "Hardwar Game Vehicle Model" category.

The HWD Converter Story

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 HWD converter.