By default Windows hides file extensions for known file types. Why they do this we may never know. File extensions are the three letters or numbers after the name of the file such as resume.doc. File extensions tell Windows what application to open the file with. It is easy to make Windows display the file extensions for all your files. Look here for details on how to do so.
In this tip we want to focus on how to make Windows display file extensions that will not appear even if you set them to appear using the method described in the above link.
To make these extension appear open My Computer or Windows Explorer. Go to the Tools menu and then Folder Options. Click on the file types tab and find the file extension you want to have displayed.
Then click on the Advanced button and check the box that says Always show extension.
You can also change the icon for the type of file among other actions. This won’t work for the file extensions .pif and .lnk. It’s most likely because these are often used for viruses.
Related Tips:
Setting File Associations
Windows File Management
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