Word document extension issue

[MA]

When you right-click on the desktop, select new and choose
Word document, when entering the name of the document.. if
I change the name from 'New Microsoft Word Document.doc'
to 'Test.1' the document extension warning appears and I
click OK. This is all fine, now we have an unknown file
type sitting on the desktop called 'Test.1' which the OS
doesnt recognise. However no matter who I send this to, or
even if I double-click on this, Word still launches to
open this unknown file-type as if it remembers what this
was originally. Is there any explanation behind this? It
also appears to open on another user's desktop, however
the document cannot be opened in Outlook? Any ideas on how
the OS remembers what this file was originally, the icon
changes and the OS is saying I dont know what this file-
type is, but Word still launches it.. also by the way,
doesnt matter if its '.1' I can rename it to 'Test.fred'
or whatever? Any ideas would be great. Thanks.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

I don't know. Do you get the same effect if you rename a .doc file in
Windows with Word closed? I suspect that MS may have some kernel of pattern
recognition for its own file types in Windows. Just speculating, though.
--

Charles Kenyon

See the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
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[Guest]

Hello Charles,

Thanks for the reply. Yep the same thing happens with Word
closed. Have you been able to reproduce the problem? You
can right click create a new word document and then call
it test.tango - then it changes to an unknown file-type
icon, however Word still opens it up? Strange issue, any
other ideas would be helpful, this is to explain to one of
our customers. Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Yep even with Word closed.

-----Original Message-----
I don't know. Do you get the same effect if you rename a .doc file in
Windows with Word closed? I suspect that MS may have some kernel of pattern
recognition for its own file types in Windows. Just speculating, though.
--

Charles Kenyon

See the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ------- --
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.




.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

Yes. I get the same result with Word 2003 and Windows XP Pro. I took an
existing document (I don't create documents from Windows, just from Word)
and changed the extension. Double-clicking on it in Windows with Word closed
opened it up as a Word document. I suspect it may be some of what the EU is
complaining about.

Within Word I then tried saving the document as a Windows .txt file. I
closed Word and renamed that file with a .1 extension. Windows gave the
warning. When I double-clicked on it, I got the expected query from Windows
asking what program I wanted to use to open it.
--

Charles Kenyon

See the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The cow knows her own calf.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Jay Freedman]

It's nothing very mysterious. If you open any Word document in a hex
editor, the first 16 bytes have these hex values:

D0 CF 11 E0 A1 B1 1A E1 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

When you double-click an "unknown" file, Explorer checks the start of
the file against a list of known patterns. If it recognizes the
pattern, it "helpfully" uses the proper application.

To test this, I took a Word file and changed its extension to "fred".
As you found, it became "unknown" but still opened in Word. Then I
used a hex editor to change the first byte from D0 to A0. Now Windows
couldn't recognize it. Finally, I changed the byte back to D0, and the
file again opens in Word.

 

[Graham Mayor]

Quite Freudian - LOL

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>>< ><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>>< ><<>

 

[Guest]

This is all been really helpful, thanks everyone!

-----Original Message-----
It's nothing very mysterious. If you open any Word document in a hex
editor, the first 16 bytes have these hex values:

D0 CF 11 E0 A1 B1 1A E1 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

When you double-click an "unknown" file, Explorer checks the start of
the file against a list of known patterns. If it recognizes the
pattern, it "helpfully" uses the proper application.

To test this, I took a Word file and changed its extension to "fred".
As you found, it became "unknown" but still opened in Word. Then I
used a hex editor to change the first byte from D0 to A0. Now Windows
couldn't recognize it. Finally, I changed the byte back to D0, and the
file again opens in Word.

--


--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word
.