Changing file names in Win98:
Ever wonder why the simplest things seem so hard?
Open Explorer
Click View
Click Folder options ...
Click the View tab
You should see a box below 'Like...' and 'Reset...' buttons
In box, find line and square with 'Hide extensions for known ...' and remove its check mark.
Don't forget to click 'Apply' button once you're done.
Now, with any luck, you'll be able to right click files and select the 'Rename' option and change the name and extension.
Hope this helps, Fred.
P.S.
Another thought, although you didn't ask about this, is Win98's desire to associate files with programs based on the extension. You may want to click on your newly named file and see if an application opens. If you are not happy with what happens, you may wish to choose another extension.
P.P.S.
About DOS: Yes, you could have opened a DOS window and changed the name, but you would only have access to the DOS name. As you probably know, DOS limits file names to 8.3 while Win98 allows much longer file names which may include spaces and other characters not allowed in DOS. Win98 manages this by using a virtual file system.
You've probably noticed a number of DOS names with a tilde '~' followed by a number. Win98 takes a long name and converts it to this format so DOS can handle it. It proceeds thus: 1) Remove spaces and unacceptable characters, 2) Truncate name to 8.3 format, 3) compare resulting name for duplicates in the directory, 4) if duplicate is found, truncate 8 name to 6 and append '~1', 5) continue checking for duplicates and appending '~2','~3','~4'... As the number of duplicates pile up, Win98 truncates further and uses 2 digits, then 3 digits... as required. |
