LanguageDVR
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center TV recording
File type: Digital video and movie file
Files with dvr extension can be usually found as old TV recordings saved using the Windows XP Media Center Edition. Seems like MPEG-2 based format.
Found 2 different file type records with the same dvr filename suffix.
What is dvr file?
File type category:
Digital video and movie file
Date updated: July 13, 2025
File extension dvr is probably best know for its use in old Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition, which introduced the DVR-MS video format for storing recorded TV content.
It was eventually replaced by the dvr-ms extension by later versions of Microsoft Media Center.
It is similar to ASF format, DVR-MS format uses Personal Video Recorder (PVR) functionality, including time-shifting, live pause, and simultaneous record and playback. Video data are encoded as MPEG-2 video stream and audio data are encoded as MPEG-1 Layer II audio stream.
Some satellite and Digital-TV HDD receivers record TV content in the similar recording format as Windows Media Center and they use file extension dvr for recorded files as well.
How to open dvr file?
These *.dvr files can be most likely played back in any media players that supports old Media Center formats.
How to convert dvr file?
Use Freemake Video Converter or similar multimedia converter to transform .dvr files to another file formats.
Suggested software to open dvr file:
Associated software actions with the dvr file
Software applications that can open dvr files:
Cyberlink PowerProducer (Microsoft Windows)
Cyberlink PowerDirector (Multiplatform)
Software applications that can edit dvr files:
Cyberlink PowerProducer (Microsoft Windows)
Cyberlink PowerDirector (Multiplatform)
Software capable of saving dvr files:
Cyberlink PowerProducer (Microsoft Windows)
Cyberlink PowerDirector (Multiplatform)
Apps designed for playing dvr files:
VLC media player (Microsoft Windows)
Microsoft Windows Media Player (Microsoft Windows)
Windows Media Center (Microsoft Windows)
Cyberlink PowerDVD (Microsoft Windows)
Cyberlink PowerProducer (Microsoft Windows)
VLC media player for Mac (Apple macOS / Mac OS X)
VLC media player for Linux (Linux/Unix)
Cyberlink PowerDirector (Multiplatform)
Video Viewer (Multiplatform)
Software apps that record to dvr files:
Windows Media Center (Microsoft Windows)
Software apps that convert dvr files:
Freemake Video Converter (Microsoft Windows)
Cyberlink PowerProducer (Microsoft Windows)
Cyberlink PowerDirector (Multiplatform)
Software apps that import dvr files:
DVR Converter (Microsoft Windows)
DESQview data
File type category:
Various data file
Date updated: November 28, 2017
The dvr file extension is also related to DESQview, a text mode multitasking program developed by Quarterdeck Office Systems which enjoyed modest popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Running on top of DOS, it allowed users to run multiple DOS programs concurrently in multiple windows.