Default all versions operating systems Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 do not display file extensions on their desktop (for example, extensions such as exe, mp3, txt, doc, avi). This is done in order to make the life of the system user easier and not confuse him with incomprehensible “postscripts” at the end of the file name. But you should know that Windows allows you to enable the display of hidden file extensions. You can enable this mode through the Explorer settings section “Folder Options” or “Folder Options”. In it you need to find the option “Hide extensions for known file types” or “Hide extensions for known file types” and deactivate it (uncheck it).
Once you disable this option, Windows will display most file extensions in Explorer and you will be able to differentiate between file types yourself. In our opinion, this option should be enabled by default, since the invisibility of extensions carries a certain risk for the computer. After all, it is very easy to disguise any executable file with the EXE extension as a text file with the TXT extension. The result will be something like "filename.txt.exe". If Windows is configured to hide extensions, then such a file will be displayed in windows explorers as “filename.txt” and the user will not be able to understand that an executable file is hidden behind this safe name. If you try to open it, then run the specified EXE file for execution. If there was malicious code, great damage may be caused to your computer.
This is why it is advisable to always show file extensions in Windows windows. But even if you disable the option to hide extensions through Folder Options, there will still be some files on the system whose extensions will still not be displayed in Windows Explorer. We are talking about files with the extension LNK (file shortcut), URL (shortcut to a link to an Internet address), PIF (DOS application shortcut).
To hide these extensions in Windows, special keys are used in system registry. The name of these keys is very “telling” - “NeverShowExt”. If you set such a key for any extension through the registry editor, it will also not be displayed on the system.
Below we provide a list of the most popular files whose extensions are never displayed in Windows Explorer:
- LNK (file or folder shortcut)
- URL (shortcut link to an Internet address)
- PIF (DOS application shortcut)
- SCF (command Windows file Explorer)
- SHS (Shell Scrap Object, scrap file)
- SHB (document shortcut)
- XNK (sync directory shortcut)
As you already understood, each of these files has a corresponding “NeverShowExt” entry in the system registry and automatically hides its extension in Windows Explorer, even when the option to hide extensions is deactivated.
Let's get back to the fact that this is a potential risk for the system. Agree, any attacker can hide malicious code in the form of a scrap file, for example filename.txt.shs, under the guise of a text file. Obviously, in this case, Windows will not display the “.shs” extension and you will only see “filename.txt”. If you run it, you can easily introduce a virus to your computer.
Is there a solution to this problem? How can I fully open any file extensions for display on the system? Below we will give you answers to these questions!
All you need to do is delete the “NeverShowExt” key, which is written in the registry next to a specific file type. After this operation, you will in any case see the extension of this file.
So, in order to increase the security level of your computer, follow these steps:
1. Press the WIN+R key combination to launch the Run dialog box. Type “regedit” in it and press Enter. This will open the Registry Editor.
3. In the search bar for registry objects, type “NeverShowExt” and press Enter. This will start the process of searching the system registry for the string value you entered. As a result, the search will stop at the first record containing the string "NeverShowExt".
Continuing the search, you will find many more registry keys with the entry of the string “NeverShowExt”, but you need to delete it only in the branch that describes the file extension you need. Be very careful when deleting this setting, as a similar setting may be specified for other registry objects besides file extensions.
Before removing the "NeverShowExt" setting for a specific extension, do backup copy this registry branch. To do this call right key mice context menu and select "Export".
4. After creating the backup, select the “NeverShowExt” option in the right pane of the Registry Editor and press the “Delete” button on your keyboard to delete it. Next, press the “F3” button to find the next occurrence of the string “NeverShowExt”. Delete this value for extension keys again and again until you get the message “Registry search completed.”
5. This completes the work. After you finish removing the NeverShowExt extension setting from the registry, you need to restart Windows. Now in Explorer, absolutely all files will be displayed with extensions.
Note: you can use a special script that will automatically remove all “NeverShowExt” lines in the registry that are specified as a parameter for files with specially hidden extensions. Download ZIP archive, unzip it and run the file with the REG extension. When asked about making changes to the registry, give your consent. After restarting the computer, you will be able to see absolutely all files with the extension .
354Everyone is familiar with the concept of a shortcut. Windows users. Label- this is a small graphic object file system, containing a link to a certain file or folder. Also, a shortcut can contain various service information - type, arguments, hotkeys, path to the target object and icon, initial state of the window, etc. IN Windows shortcuts usually used to launch programs from the desktop.
Users can also create shortcuts by dragging the target object to the desired location while holding down Alt or specifying a path or command in the shortcut creation wizard window.
LNK shortcuts
If you carefully read the first paragraph, then you probably noticed a certain type we mentioned. Yes, there are several types of shortcuts in Windows. Shortcuts traditionally located on the desktop and used to launch installed programs, are the most common. They have an extension LNK and use the interface IShellLink- a special mechanism for working with this type of file system objects. Application area LNK-shortcuts are usually limited to creating links to files, directories, and less often classic Control Panel applets.
URL shortcuts
This type of shortcut is used to open certain web resources on the Internet. URL-labels have a simple structure, and their content is usually limited to a defining tag InternetShortcut and the full address of the resource. Additionally URL-shortcuts can contain the path to the icon or the file containing the icon, hotkeys and meta information. Internet shortcuts extension have URL, shortcuts with the extension are much less common WEBSITE. Double clicking on such objects launches the default browser.
PIF labels
Shortcut used to launch programs MS-DOS. By purpose PIF-shortcuts are close to shortcuts LNK, but unlike the latter, they do not require intermediaries like an interface IShellLink, but are launched directly. Their contents are represented by the path to the executable file, instructions for execution DOS-applications in Windows environment and various metadata - information about the fonts used, the date of creation and modification, etc. PIF-shortcuts were popular in the early Windows versions, are rare today, sometimes under labels PIF viruses are disguised, so be careful if you come across such a file on the Internet.
APPREF-MS Labels
Chance to encounter a shortcut that has an extension APPREF-MS, for the average user is very small. Such shortcuts for applications are created ClickOnce and serve to connect to the server on which the application is located. Contains the server address and token for launching a remote program.
SHB labels
A so-called document shortcut developed by Microsoft and used to open document files in Windows using the library shscrap.dll. In structure and purpose it is close to LNK, but is much less common. The content is represented by the path to the target object and metadata.
XNK shortcuts
This type of shortcut is used to quickly open a directory or other item in a program Microsoft Outlook. Are being created XNK-shortcuts by dragging an object from mail client on the desktop. Used XNK-shortcuts in older versions Outlook, the chance of meeting them today is small.
How to enable display of shortcut extensions
On Windows, even if you enable display of file extensions, shortcut extensions will remain hidden. This is done for your convenience in using shortcuts, but it is also a potential security risk, since a completely innocent text file may hide malware with "invisible" shortcut extension.
There is, however, a way to enable the display of shortcut extensions, although it is not so obvious.
A text parameter with an empty value is responsible for hiding shortcut extensions in the registry. If you remove it, the corresponding extension will become visible. The only difficulty is that you will have to find copies manually and delete them.
Open the registry editor, select the section with the mouse HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (you need to look for the parameter there) and press F3 to bring up the search window. Since we don’t need other elements, we tick only the item "Parameter Names" and start the search procedure.
We delete parameters in the found keys.
Having previously created a backup copy of the key (export).
- LNK (file or folder shortcut)
- URL (shortcut link to an Internet address)
- PIF (DOS application shortcut)
- SCF ( batch file Windows Explorer)
- SHS (Shell Scrap Object, scrap file)
- SHB (document shortcut)
- XNK (sync directory shortcut)
Executable files are called files containing ready-to-launch computer programs. (.bat .com .exe)
Archive- a file containing information from one or more, sometimes compressed (lossless), other files. (.RAR .ZIP)
File extension- a specific sequence of characters (letters and numbers) following the file name through the dot character "." and used to identify the file type software products and/or by the user. That is, with the help of the file extension, programs and people understand (if they know) what type of data is contained in a particular file, what features it has, and what is necessary for its execution.
It is impossible to create the same format for all files, because the program must understand what action or set of actions it is expected to do. In addition, the visible part, after the file name, I’m talking about the extension, helps users group files in a way that is convenient for them, allows them to remember what and how to open in a particular case. For example, we know that we need to open the .doc(docx) file with MS Word (you can read about Word in this article), the .avi file with a KMP player, and we will open the .adr file Opera browser(this is the opera bookmarks file).
It is worth noting that file extensions often indicate the specifics of the file, and not the file’s membership in any group. The point is that all types of files can be combined into groups, and each group has its own general specifics. For example, file.mp3, file.ac3, file.waw, file.flac - these are all music files, that is, they can all be opened by 1 program, although they have different extension. And some files have no variations, take at least the usual one Word document, file.doc(docx) and there is nothing else similar. But you can combine such a file into a group text files(txt, html, doc/docx).
What to do if you need to find out the file extension, but you can’t see it through Explorer? The first thing that comes to mind is to launch Total Commander, but someone works through Explorer and doesn’t want any “commanders” (although they save a lot of time), there is a way for such users. Click " Start", select " Control Panel - Folder Options", then select the tab on top " View", scroll down, find the line "Hide extensions for known file types" and uncheck the box.
Now through the explorer we will be shown not only file icons, but also their extension, and this is sometimes very important. By the way, you can change the extension yourself (for example, instead of jpg make png) by simply renaming the file and replacing the characters after the dot, but I do not recommend doing this, in most cases the format will not change, but the characters that you see will simply change .
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