An A02 file is simply the third part of a split archive and won’t open individually because the structural header lives in the first chunk, so programs return errors such as “unknown header”; proper extraction requires placing all volumes in one folder and opening the starter—either the main .ARJ or the .A00—allowing archive tools to pull automatically from A01, A02, etc.; if issues occur, they usually reference missing files, incomplete parts, or CRC errors, and sorting the directory by name helps verify that every expected volume is present.
To confirm what an A02 file belongs to, arrange the files by name so related pieces line up, then look for files sharing the exact same base name—if you see `backup.a02`, you should also see `backup.a00` and `backup.a01`, and maybe `backup. If you cherished this article and you would like to acquire far more information with regards to A02 file error kindly check out the site. a03` or more—then check for a main starter like `backup.arj`, which you’d open instead of A02; if there’s no `.arj` but a sequence beginning with `.a00`, then `.a00` is the correct starter, and you can right-click it and choose 7-Zip → Open archive to verify it loads, while missing numbers or mismatched filenames indicate broken sets that require finding the missing parts.
When I say an A02 file is usually “part 3” of a split archive, I mean it’s merely a subsequent chunk of a larger compressed set created when an archiver divides a big file into smaller pieces—typically `.A00`, `.A01`, `.A02`—so A02 isn’t a special format but a continuation of the same data stream, and because the archive header and file index live in the first volume (or a main `.ARJ`), A02 alone won’t open correctly; if you see matching names like `something.a00`, `something.a01`, and `something.a02`, keep them together and open the starter so the extraction tool can chain through A01 and A02 to rebuild the contents.
An A02 file often won’t open because it’s the third segment of the set, and archive formats expect the header, file list, compression info, and checksums to appear in the opening volume (`.A00` or a main `.ARJ`), so an extractor checking A02’s beginning sees no valid signature and reports “cannot open as archive”; keeping all parts together and launching the first volume is how the archive tool correctly reads A01, A02, etc. to rebuild the original content.
When an archiver “uses” A02, it’s not opening an independent archive because the structure is defined in the starter (`.ARJ` or `.A00`), and decompression flows sequentially through `.A01` and `.A02` exactly as if they were one big file; if A02 is missing or faulty, the extraction breaks with errors such as “premature end of archive”.
