re-naming files

[Guest]

Whenever I rename a file such as an mp3 or jpg I can re-name it whatever I
want but I always have to include the extention after the name, eg .mp3 or
..jpg which is not a real problem. My question is why? I understand that the
computer needs to know what kind of file it is in order to use the right
program to open the file, what I don't understand is for 2 years I never had
to include the extention when re-naming and now I do. Maybe someone out there
can explain this to me. I should mention that the 2 years I made referance to
above was when I was using Windows Millennium. Dose this make a differance?
Or is this something directly related to XP or maybe service-pack 2. Hope
somebody can answer my question.

thankyou
Joe

 

[Mary Sauer]

In Windows Explorer, folder options, view, check "Hide extensions for known file
types."

 

[Guest]

Mary, I want to thank you very much. The solution worked perfect. Thanks
again.

Joe

 

[Alex Nichol]

Whenever I rename a file such as an mp3 or jpg I can re-name it whatever I
want but I always have to include the extention after the name, eg .mp3 or
.jpg which is not a real problem. My question is why? I understand that the
computer needs to know what kind of file it is in order to use the right
program to open the file, what I don't understand is for 2 years I never had
to include the extention when re-naming and now I do.

You can change type in some circumstances when renaming, so it has to be
provided in normal circumstances. You probably had Folder Options -
View set to hide extensions of registered file types. This is not
advisable these days; it makes it just that easier for trojans etc to
spoof the file type as something innocuous (eg prettypic.jpg.exe to
look as if it is prettypic.jpg)