"Hide Extensions for known file types" problem

[Trond Ruud]

I always like to know the file types in my folders, and so have
unchecked the "Hide Extensions for known file types" option in the Folder
Options View menu, but unlike in Win98SE and Win2000 this caused all my
desktop
shortcuts to be displayed with the .lnk extension, as in:
Word.lnk, Excel.lnk,Notepad.lnk etc., etc.

How can I hide the .lnk extension on the XP desktop without hiding the
extensions of all other
files? I've checked the Powertoys Tweak UI utility, for some setting that
will remove the superflous .lnk extension, but found nothing The .lnk is
only suffixed to local file shortcuts however. Internet shortcuts are all
displayed without a .lnk
Trond Ruud
Norway

 

[Herb Martin]

I always like to know the file types in my folders, and so have
unchecked the "Hide Extensions for known file types" option in the Folder
Options View menu, but unlike in Win98SE and Win2000 this caused all my
desktop
shortcuts to be displayed with the .lnk extension, as in:
Word.lnk, Excel.lnk,Notepad.lnk etc., etc.

That's odd -- my machines are ALWAYS set to show all files and include the
extensions but when I look at the Desktop (specifically) the files there are
shown
with extensions EXCEPT for .Lnk files which show only the little "link
arrow".

There is also the issue that you really do want to see when you put a
non-link
on the desktop -- many people have a bad habit of storing the actual files
there.

 

[Trond Ruud]

That's odd -- my machines are ALWAYS set to show all files and
include the extensions but when I look at the Desktop (specifically)
the files there are shown
with extensions EXCEPT for .Lnk files which show only the little "link
arrow".

Same here, for Win98SE and Win2000 (I have those installed too in addition
to XP)
This problem _only_ occurs in XP.
Trond Ruud

 

[Herb Martin]

That's odd -- my machines are ALWAYS set to show all files and

Same here, for Win98SE and Win2000 (I have those installed too in addition
to XP)

I checked both an XP system and a Win2003 (essentially the UI is XP).
They work the same as Win2000.

Perhaps you Desktop folder itself is set differently that the other folders
on
your system?

 

[Trond Ruud]

(...)

Not as far as I can see. Besides, to eliminate that possibility, I now

used the "Reset all folders" function in Control Panel>Folder Options before
unchecking the "Hide Extensions for known file types" option again, so I
assume all folders (Desktop included) have been reset to their default state
before the "Hide Extensions for known file types" option was applied again.
The .lnk suffix anomaly is not consistent however, since none of the Control
Panel shortcut icons are displayed with the .cpl extension, as are neither
internet links on my desktop, even though these entities also are shortcut
files, though the latter files are listed as "Internet Shortcuts" in the
property window, while the .lnk suffixed shortcut files are only called
"shortcut" in the property window. Seems to me this must be an XP GUI bug(?)
Oh well, it's only a minor irritant. I can live with the superfluous .lnk
suffixes being displayed on my XP desktop, but thanks for all the
suggestions anyway.
Regards
Trond Ruud

 

[Herb Martin]

It might be a bug but remember mine doesn't do it this way.

My XP and 2003 work correctly (as you hoped.)

 

[Trond Ruud]

I always like to know the file types in my folders, and so have
unchecked the "Hide Extensions for known file types" option in the
Folder Options View menu, but unlike in Win98SE and Win2000 this
caused all my desktop
shortcuts to be displayed with the .lnk extension, as in:
Word.lnk, Excel.lnk,Notepad.lnk etc., etc.

How can I hide the .lnk extension on the XP desktop without hiding the
extensions of all other
files? I've checked the Powertoys Tweak UI utility, for some setting
that will remove the superflous .lnk extension, but found nothing The
.lnk is only suffixed to local file shortcuts however. Internet
shortcuts are all displayed without a .lnk
Trond Ruud
Norway

If anyone else has the same problem, I found a registry fix to the problem
here:
http://www.dougknox.com/index.html
Windows® XP File Association Fixes
Copyright 2003 - Doug Knox
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/fileassoc/linkfile_fix.zip

Trond Ruud