Vista - Extension Popup

Everytime I try to rename an extension Windows asks me if I'm sure I want to.
Is there any way to disable that dialog?

S Murder wrote:
> Everytime I try to rename an extension Windows asks me if I'm sure I want to.
> Is there any way to disable that dialog?

What you want to do is enable seeing the hidden file extensions. I
really don't know why, but hiding known file extensions has always been
the default on Microsoft operating systems. The file extension, if you
don't know, is the three letters in a file name after the "dot". The
extension tells Windows what program is associated with that type of file.

Once you enable seeing the hidden extensions (which is better for safety
anyway), you'll be able to change the name - and not the extension -
easily and not get the prompt because your cursor will be in the right
place to just change the name and not the extension. Enable seeing
hidden extensions from Folder Options in Control Panel.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Hi, S Murder.

I agree with Malke that the default (Hide extensions) is a dumb thing for
Microsoft to do!

The extension is usually - but not always - 3 characters. For example,
..mpeg and .jpeg are often used, in addition to the .mpg and .jpg that were
required back before LFN (Long File Names) were allowed about a dozen years
ago.

Nowadays, we must be sure that we are really looking at the extension,
especially when extensions are hidden. A popular trick for viruses and
malware is to add a malicious extension after one or more legitimate ones.
For example, you might have a file named Murder.txt. A malware program
might add a .vbs extension, making it Murder.txt.vbs. A file cannot have
more than one extension. Only the characters after the FINAL dot are the
actual extension; the dots and characters before the final dot are a part of
the filename, not the extension. So, you might click on what appears to be
Murder.txt, but the hidden .vbs extension executes the malware's payload.
Gotcha! :>(

You should also know that many programs, including many Microsoft programs,
automatically add extensions when you save files from them. For example, if
you load Murder.txt into Microsoft Word, then Save it, the filename will
become Murder.txt.doc. If you've left the default to Hide extensions, you
won't see the .doc. This might not cause you any problems at all - but it
might.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@grandecom.net
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Mail in Vista Ultimate x64)

"S Murder" <SMurder@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:03D9B1CE-8E22-4AE9-BD96-66E00A927613@microsoft.com...
> Everytime I try to rename an extension Windows asks me if I'm sure I want
> to.
> Is there any way to disable that dialog?

I already have the "view known extensions" option enabled. I want to now how
I can edit the extension without Windows butting in.
For example, when creating a new txt file, I can't erase .txt and retype
..java without getting a prompt. How can I stop this?

"Malke" wrote:

> S Murder wrote:
> > Everytime I try to rename an extension Windows asks me if I'm sure I want to.
> > Is there any way to disable that dialog?
>
> What you want to do is enable seeing the hidden file extensions. I
> really don't know why, but hiding known file extensions has always been
> the default on Microsoft operating systems. The file extension, if you
> don't know, is the three letters in a file name after the "dot". The
> extension tells Windows what program is associated with that type of file.
>
> Once you enable seeing the hidden extensions (which is better for safety
> anyway), you'll be able to change the name - and not the extension -
> easily and not get the prompt because your cursor will be in the right
> place to just change the name and not the extension. Enable seeing
> hidden extensions from Folder Options in Control Panel.
>
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
>

R. C. White, MVP wrote:
> Hi, S Murder.
>
> I agree with Malke that the default (Hide extensions) is a dumb thing
> for Microsoft to do!
>
> The extension is usually - but not always - 3 characters. For example,
> .mpeg and .jpeg are often used, in addition to the .mpg and .jpg that
> were required back before LFN (Long File Names) were allowed about a
> dozen years ago.
>
> Nowadays, we must be sure that we are really looking at the extension,
> especially when extensions are hidden. A popular trick for viruses and
> malware is to add a malicious extension after one or more legitimate
> ones. For example, you might have a file named Murder.txt. A malware
> program might add a .vbs extension, making it Murder.txt.vbs. A file
> cannot have more than one extension. Only the characters after the
> FINAL dot are the actual extension; the dots and characters before the
> final dot are a part of the filename, not the extension. So, you might
> click on what appears to be Murder.txt, but the hidden .vbs extension
> executes the malware's payload. Gotcha! :>(
>
> You should also know that many programs, including many Microsoft
> programs, automatically add extensions when you save files from them.
> For example, if you load Murder.txt into Microsoft Word, then Save it,
> the filename will become Murder.txt.doc. If you've left the default to
> Hide extensions, you won't see the .doc. This might not cause you any
> problems at all - but it might.
>
> RC

Hi, RC. I think what the OP wants (from his second post) is for Windows
not to ask him if he's sure when changing the file extension from say
*.txt to *.jpg. He used this example: "I can't erase .txt and retype
..java without getting a prompt".

To the OP - I don't believe you can get Windows to stop warning you
because changing the *name* of the file extension (*.txt or whatever) to
something completing unrelated (like *.jpg) will not actually change the
real file type. To change the real file type you would need to convert
the file from one type to another. Sometimes that's possible and
sometimes that isn't. It depends on what you are trying to convert from
and to.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Oh gee, well how do I convert text files to java and html files? Woe is me!

"Malke" wrote:

> R. C. White, MVP wrote:
> > Hi, S Murder.
> >
> > I agree with Malke that the default (Hide extensions) is a dumb thing
> > for Microsoft to do!
> >
> > The extension is usually - but not always - 3 characters. For example,
> > .mpeg and .jpeg are often used, in addition to the .mpg and .jpg that
> > were required back before LFN (Long File Names) were allowed about a
> > dozen years ago.
> >
> > Nowadays, we must be sure that we are really looking at the extension,
> > especially when extensions are hidden. A popular trick for viruses and
> > malware is to add a malicious extension after one or more legitimate
> > ones. For example, you might have a file named Murder.txt. A malware
> > program might add a .vbs extension, making it Murder.txt.vbs. A file
> > cannot have more than one extension. Only the characters after the
> > FINAL dot are the actual extension; the dots and characters before the
> > final dot are a part of the filename, not the extension. So, you might
> > click on what appears to be Murder.txt, but the hidden .vbs extension
> > executes the malware's payload. Gotcha! :>(
> >
> > You should also know that many programs, including many Microsoft
> > programs, automatically add extensions when you save files from them.
> > For example, if you load Murder.txt into Microsoft Word, then Save it,
> > the filename will become Murder.txt.doc. If you've left the default to
> > Hide extensions, you won't see the .doc. This might not cause you any
> > problems at all - but it might.
> >
> > RC
>
> Hi, RC. I think what the OP wants (from his second post) is for Windows
> not to ask him if he's sure when changing the file extension from say
> *.txt to *.jpg. He used this example: "I can't erase .txt and retype
> ..java without getting a prompt".
>
> To the OP - I don't believe you can get Windows to stop warning you
> because changing the *name* of the file extension (*.txt or whatever) to
> something completing unrelated (like *.jpg) will not actually change the
> real file type. To change the real file type you would need to convert
> the file from one type to another. Sometimes that's possible and
> sometimes that isn't. It depends on what you are trying to convert from
> and to.
>
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
>

S Murder wrote:
> Oh gee, well how do I convert text files to java and html files? Woe is me!

By opening them in each particular program if conversion is possible.
For instance, to convert text to html, you'd copy that text into an html
editor and then save the new file as whatever.html. Examples of html
editors are NVU, Dreamweaver, and Expression (Microsoft's replacement
for FrontPage). You'd create Java files with Sun's Java creator. For
information on that, go to Sun's website.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Sorry, I forgot my <sarcasm> tags. HTML and Java files ARE text; no
conversion is necessary.

"Malke" wrote:

> S Murder wrote:
> > Oh gee, well how do I convert text files to java and html files? Woe is me!
>
> By opening them in each particular program if conversion is possible.
> For instance, to convert text to html, you'd copy that text into an html
> editor and then save the new file as whatever.html. Examples of html
> editors are NVU, Dreamweaver, and Expression (Microsoft's replacement
> for FrontPage). You'd create Java files with Sun's Java creator. For
> information on that, go to Sun's website.
>
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
>