I need to change the designation of a file from "Windows
Media Player" to "Movie Clip". I downloaded a file. It
was in the ".dat" format. When it completed the download,
it didn't change automatically to a "Movie Clip" format
like usual. It stayed in the ".dat" format. So I tried to
change the name of the file to ".mpg" and then tried to
open it with Windows Media Player. A window popped up
which said it had no associated program to run it. So, I
chose Windows Media Player. It runs, however, the
designation of the file is now ".mpg.dat". I can't get
rid of the ".dat" designation, and by associating this
file with Windows Media Player, it associated all my
current ".dat" uncompleted downloading files with Windows
Media Player! Help. I just want to make this completed
file a "Movie Clip" designated file that runs with my
chosen Media Player. I didn't want to change all
my ".dat" files to associate with Windows Media Player.
Now I can't get my ".dat" files to return the way they
used to look either, because I can't find a program to
associate them with that works correctly.

Please help.

Narrin

In the Explorer window choose Tools, Folder Options and View tab. unselect
hide file extensions for known file types. Now when you look at the file it
is *.mpg.dat. Right click and rename. Remove the .dat and hit enter you
should get a warning about changing the file extension. Simply changing the
file extension alone may not be sufficient for other applications to
recognize the format

--
Richard McCall [MSFT]

"This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights."
"Narrin Notenboom" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:76be01c3e7b1$5feb7540$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I need to change the designation of a file from "Windows
> Media Player" to "Movie Clip". I downloaded a file. It
> was in the ".dat" format. When it completed the download,
> it didn't change automatically to a "Movie Clip" format
> like usual. It stayed in the ".dat" format. So I tried to
> change the name of the file to ".mpg" and then tried to
> open it with Windows Media Player. A window popped up
> which said it had no associated program to run it. So, I
> chose Windows Media Player. It runs, however, the
> designation of the file is now ".mpg.dat". I can't get
> rid of the ".dat" designation, and by associating this
> file with Windows Media Player, it associated all my
> current ".dat" uncompleted downloading files with Windows
> Media Player! Help. I just want to make this completed
> file a "Movie Clip" designated file that runs with my
> chosen Media Player. I didn't want to change all
> my ".dat" files to associate with Windows Media Player.
> Now I can't get my ".dat" files to return the way they
> used to look either, because I can't find a program to
> associate them with that works correctly.
>
> Please help.
>
> Narrin