The Windows Feature You SHOULDN'T Ignore - File Extensions Explained
Вставка
- Опубліковано 17 жов 2024
- The first 200 people who head to brilliant.org/... will get 20% off their annual premium subscription of Brilliant.
Why are file extensions such a crucial Windows feature?
Techquickie Merch Store: www.lttstore.com
Follow: / linustech
Join the community: linustechtips.com
Leave a reply with your requests for future episodes, or tweet them here: / jmart604
![[RANT] The DUMBEST Thing About USB](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gShRBsahzXg/mqdefault.jpg)
![[RANT] The DUMBEST Thing About USB](/img/tr.png)
the Windows "Hide Extensions" default option is the first thing I change when I re-install Windows.
That feature makes people vulnerable for virusses. They don't know they're running a program when they think they open a photo
This, every time. Blows my mind how something so useful is disabled by default.
Same. Having extensions disabled by default - seriously MS? Any security minded person can see how this can lead to problems. Then again this decision was made way back when security was low on list of priorities and as such is problably a legacy carryover from that era. They recently changed the default safely remove option. Here's hoping they will eventually get around to disabling extension hiding by default.
@@Raivo_K remove puts files into the trashbin anyway.
@@mokubakaiba1751 there is a notification before you change the extension
That is a really ambiguous title
At least don't click bait-ify techquickie
Yeah, keep the titles catchy, but give people an idea as to what to expect in the video.
Yeah seems kind of weird to have an ambiguous title on a video that's meant to be educational.
I already know this stuff shown in the video
@@Phrost1338 Good for you, so did i
A lot of Other people don't
They made a video about the clickbaity title's. They said if they don't use the clickbaity titles, they lose a hell of a lot of potential views. They noted that literally any title with the word Apple in it and/or the Apple logo in the thumbnail are the biggest influencers for views.
"The Windows Feature you SHOULDN'T Ignore." Shows MacBook Pro within the first few seconds.
Or uses Linux.
and shows Libre office a little while later
You can run Windows on a MBP... shouldn't you?! ;)
Macs run Windows, VM or Bootcamp but they definitively do
2008 Mac Pro here running Windows 10, and only Windows 10 (seriously the HD has nothing else on it).. Runs it great.
Note : Linux systems don't usually use file extensions, but analyse the file header or analyse the file to determine what it is.
It analyses both name extension and file header. It knows what kind of file it is but still opens on the default program for the file type.
If you rename a jpeg to .txt it will open on the text editor, but if you '$ file -F , photo.txt' it will tell you that it's a photo file.
They never use file extensions. The fact that many files have them is just because it's a nice convention that makes files easier to identify. And of course some programs will look at it as well, depending on how they are coded. But Linux never cares about file extension and that's an important thing to remember when using it - for example Linux has no native file associations. A desktop environment program emulates that functionality by simply calling the configured executable and passing the file to it. In some cases this can lead to memory leaks if the program is not coded to detect when it has an instance running and reuse existing process, and opens a new process to handle the file instead. Early versions of Android Studio had this problem for example.
exactly and it IS efficient, actually it is way more reliable than hoping the file has the right extension...
Yeah in case your file extension is edited, just remove it completely and there's a very good chance it'll open it with a suitable program.
If I edit the extension then it'll actually open the file with the program fitting the extension (at least in KDE Plasma)
@@JR-mk6ow true but in the case where there is no extension they know what to pick
Good video. Terribly uninformative and clickbaity title.
Uninformative to you maybe... you wouldn't believe the number of longtime windows users I have to teach this to. As for the clickbait, they explained that if they don't do goofy thumbnails and clickbait titles they loose lots of viewership, so they are not really going to care if you don't like it... for them it is cost of doing business on UA-cam.
EDIT: Its good they changed the title so people looking for help can actually find it. Sorry I mistook your post.
@@WolvenSpectre Surely he was referring to the uninformative nature of the video title, not the content itself.
@@WolvenSpectre it happens all the time with me, especially with old people that have used computers for a very long time and are very cringey about learning anything new.
It's the title that is uninformative, not the video.
And I'm well aware of the business reasons, but that doesn't mean that I'm not allowed to voice my disapproval of the practice.
Not even close to click bait....
0:40: "Analysing the file contents would be inefficient"
Linux: Am I a joke to you?
one of the few things i whish linux did more like windows
@@sephirothbahamut245 I don't know, I really like the fact that things don't generally have extensions on linux. Especially the fact that you aren't limited to a single type of executable, as you pretty much are on Windows. Well I guess you have msi and a few others as well as exe, but the ability to just have executing python 2/3 files, bash files, compiled binaries, etc all as executables makes the linux environment really flexible compared to Windows.
@@lost4468yt most of what you're calling "executable types" are actually simple files that are opened by an interpreter, exactly like on windows. .bat is opened by the command line, .py is opened by a python interpreter, .jar was opened by a java vm (until the standard switched to wrapping jars in an executable).
Extensions let you have a reference point of what type is opened with what program, which you can totally manipulate; and that ties to the "set default for the following formats" in various programs installers.
In my dreams i'd have a linux-like package manager, but windows-like individual software installers once you get the package, since various programs might offer different options upon installation, and a windows-like file extension system. It's one of the few things that makes customization quite straightforward even for not-so-techy users.
@@sephirothbahamut245
>most of what you're calling "executable types" are actually simple files that are opened by an interpreter, exactly like on windows
Those are exactly what executables are on Linux. All an executable is in Linux is a file with exec permissions, which the kernel will then either check for a shebang, or check if the file format is registered with binfmt. What exactly do you think makes a bash file marked as executable just "a simple file", but an elf marked as an executable, a real executable? You only view it like that because you're so used to the Windows system, where exes are treated differently, which makes no sense. What is the difference?
>.bat is opened by the command line, .py is opened by a python interpreter, .jar was opened by a java vm
Which is exactly why the Windows system is such a mess. The first reason being that this means that whether a file is executable or not is determined by the extension, which is just crazy. It means I can turn a non-executable file into something to be executed just by changing the name of it. This is especially silly for files like python scripts, where very often you would only want one or a few scripts out of many to be executable. With the python example a poorly programmed python script could actually cause damage if the wrong script was executed.
Another reason for this is that it means that the user has to have their system set right. On linux a python script is interpreted with the python interpreter because the python script itself says it should be. But on Windows the python script is handed off to whatever the user has ".py" align to on their system. Oh that's a Python 2 script, not a Python 3 script? Doesn't matter, Windows will treat them the same. Windows accidentally reset your file formats (which I have had happen), well a bunch of stuff just broke for you.
>Extensions let you have a reference point of what type is opened with what program, which you can totally manipulate; and that ties to the "set default for the following formats" in various programs installers.
You know what also gives you a reference point? The file command. Run that on a file and it will tell you exactly what type of executable it is, and what's better is you can't be tricked by the extension. If someone has changed a python script to .sh it will still tell you that it's a python script, and again because of how much more sensible the linux method is, it will still execute as a python file.
>In my dreams i'd have a linux-like package manager
Have you tried chocolatey?
>but windows-like individual software installers once you get the package,
That kind of defeats the one of the main purposes of a package manager. What you're talking about seems to be more equivalent to a database of program installers.
>since various programs might offer different options upon installation
You can do that with the vast majority of package managers anyway, there's nothing stopping that. There are tons of packages which add their own menu to the installer. An example I can think of off the top of my head is postfix and apt. Most packages just don't do this though as small changes are generally handled through config files, and large changes are built as multiple packages. Saying that though, you rarely even see a Windows installer ask you much more than "install for current user or everyone".
>It's one of the few things that makes customization quite straightforward even for not-so-techy users.
I don't agree, it generally makes it easy for non-tech users to mess things up.
@@lost4468yt
> What is the difference?
- Less than you think. A python script is still threated differently from executable binaries on linux, and it's a file opened by the (on linux generally preinstalled) python interpreter, exactly like on windows. Only raw binaries are really executed in any OS of this planet. That's what windows gives the .exe extension.
> It means I can turn a non-executable file into something to be executed just by changing the name of it
- Exactly like I can turn a non-executable file into something to be executed just by running a 2 words console command on Linux.
Are we comparing utility here or how much the user can mess things up? Because there's no limit to that in either system. Also, try to turn a random file in a .exe on windows or give the executable flag to a random file in linux. The chances of it actually running instead of being stopped as invalid binaries is so small it can be considered non-existent.
> The file command. Run that on a file and it will tell you exactly what type of executable it is
- what it thinks it is, not all "executables" as in scripts that must be read and interpreted by an actual executable, have an header telling the type of the script before bytecode or similar. Make a bash script, it'll have no header. That's based on pure assumption by the file command based on reading the content. Why do you think in a ruby script you should write "#!/usr/local/bin/ruby -w" at the beginning? It helps your os to know what the file when treated as "executable" should be opened as an argument of. That's the same information windows associates with file formats rather than individual files, and it applies to any file, not just scripts. By the OS point of view (and this is true for linux too) calling an interpreter with a script as argument or calling a picture viewer with a picture as argument is exactly the same. It will run the interpreter/picture viewer binaries with the filepath as argument; that interpreter/picture viewer will determine what to do with that file and its content.
> What you're talking about seems to be more equivalent to a database of program installers.
- The package manager can still handle getting, updates, and removing. But it'd be nice to have setup options popup when you install a program with meaningful setup options, instead of having a "first run" kind of execution branch as part of the program itself.
Imagine something big as visual studio. Installing it without optional content would mean you have to manually start it right after installation to get the "first run options". It makes much more sense to have it work like it does now, where the installer asks you which packages you want installed (if you never used it, it supports many languages, most of which you might no need, so upon installation you tell "hey i want only c++ and python")
> There are tons of packages which add their own menu to the installer
- i guess i simply never met one then.
And do you really think that modifying a script's shebang is that much harder than modifying a file's name extension?
Man i forgot those got hidden, first thing i do on each install, let it show.
Same, I'm techy person and I need sometimes to change file type.
I do that
Same. Having extensions disabled by default - seriously MS? Any security
minded person can see how this can lead to problems. Then again this
decision was made way back when security was low on list of priorities
and as such is problably a legacy carryover from that era. They recently
changed the default safely remove option. Here's hoping they will
eventually get around to disabling extension hiding by default.
Let it show, let it show.
They have extensions hidden by default because most people _aren't_ tech savvy and can accidentally delete the extension when renaming a file rendering it useless.
I really don't understand why showing file extensions isn't enabled by default.
because hidden looks "cleaner"
Because when noobs try to rename a file they might accidentally rename over the file extension part so program1.exe becomes myprogram (no exe).
cause you might end up rewriting a filename along with its extension, this is especially hard for people with less computer knowledge which is very common.
Grandma: "My Word document keeps becoming this empty sheet of paper that doesn't open after I rename it"
Are you really that dumb? Think of the typical Windows user. Not everyone is technical to understand changing the extension
"Noobs" probably should not be renaming files in the first place. No excuses, file extensions should be visible by default, but aren't.
0:39 actually on Linux, many files don't have file extensions ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
They have headers within the file that specify what format they are
Especially executables. Although, common files like photos and music, which are kind of universal in all OS's, do have extensions even on Linux
Video ends at 4:20 one day before 4/20...interesting
Thanks for reminding me. There is a big party and giveaway at the "dispensary" at the reservation tomorrow.
I still find it shocking, SHOCKING, that Windows not only still has an option to hide file type extensions, but it's the default!
All the better to not confuse grandma, I guess...
That option has been there since at LEAST NT 5.0 (aka: Win 2000), if not somewhere around NT 3.5 (Win 95) or NT 4.0 (Win 98).
@@ElNeroDiablo I definitely remember using it in both NT 4 and Win2k.
cause when you rename it, you dont understand why the dot jpeg is there and you erase the extention and have an unopenable file after. its an anti moron option. Its like Apple IOS: an OS based for computer illiterates.
@@bober1019 Love the apple user summary👏👏👏
Turning off the "hide known file extensions" option is one of the very first things that I do on a new Windows build. In fact I also have it turned off in our corporate domain group policy.
In reality, I think MSFT should just remove that option completely and always show file extensions, and maybe convert that option to something that simply prevents changing the file extension.
Hiding the extension by default is the single biggest security risk for ordinary people. Microsoft is soooo stupid to do this. Who does this help...
Some idiot at MS wanted to make the OS more mac like. Why? I don't know, Macs have a terrible OS. All of the worst features in windows come from trying to copy something done on the mac.
No mention of magic bytes?!?
There's no such thing as Magic.
@@MAGAMAN Yes there is in the computer world, for example linux, even in windows .class/.jar files(from java)
@@aeghohloechu5022 nah, they are file format specific, so they exist -- Windows/explorer just ignore them
@@aeghohloechu5022 No, it's not. Many programs just outright ignore the file endings and go by the magic bytes when reading them. I'd even go so far to say that a program is badly coded if it goes by the file ending to figure out what file type it's dealing with.
@@richardlighthouse5328 CAFEBABE?
Sometimes I forget that file extensions are hidden by default. I can't think of a single advantage to not having them shown, for normal users having them show up might save them from clicking on an EXE that they think is something else, and for more hardcore users you can change the extension in the few cases you might need to.
For sure I won't be able to ignore Windows 10 forcing updates in the middle of my presentation at school...
Just use Linux.
And BSODes from nothing in the middle of exam. 😍
@@matyasletacek4099 BSODs are 99% of the time a issue caused by you from downloading a bad driver or software or having faulty hardware
@@Emil215p or Windows downloading a faulty driver, or the latest Windows Update...
or download w10privacy which changes update installing behavior
In Windows 8/8.1/10, you can see the file extension by simply going to Explorer > View tab and checking the box of "File name extensions"
meow meow hello fellow cartoon girl
Should have known someone would beat me to pointing this out.
Was it in 8/8.1? I jumped straight from 7 to 10 and was thinking it wasn't there at first in 10...
@@SolarShado its fine lol, Windows 8 was a shame anyway, so you're forgiven
And yes it was there already since 8
Gotcha
While most file extensions are three characters in length, they can be as short as one character or longer than twenty characters , just a small correction ( 0:28 )
don't let this distract you that windows *doesn't* want you to ignore scheduled updates.
If file extensions are so important, why does Microsoft hide them by default?
"Your operating system doesn't just analyze the internal code of a file"
OS9 did something like that. I remember years ago trying to open an HTML help file with that POS OS and it refused to do it. For whatever reason it would not recognize the file as HTML and nothing I tried could get it to open. It opened fine on windows.
Mac OS 9 had file/creator codes. PC Exchange would assign them based off of a registry of file extensions if they were downloaded from the internet/came from a non-Mac source. Most likely, they weren't set correctly on your file for whatever reason.
Linux DOES check the interior of a file to determine the type of file.
As does Mac OS. In fact this used to be one of the many compatibility issues between Windows and Mac OS back in the 90's as macs didn't bother adding file extensions to files when it created them, and windows programs didn't always bother to set the right file type identifier code in the file header when it saved new files.
The header is in fact an internal extention
And Amiga OS
@@NaNekoRx10 Yeah, kind of. The difference is that the header is part of the files content (data) and the extension is just metadata
I don’t think it’s Linux who does that. It’s probably the Window manager which decides which program to start after clicking an mp3 or jpg.
"Not to be confused with browser extensions" Who TF would get a File Extension and Browser Extension mixed up? This just feels ridiculous how negligent non-tech-savvy people can be sometimes.
Nooo I thought he was going to talk about phone extensions and extension cords, that really needed explaining. derp
@@leonidas14775 WOW
microsoft: creates VBS
windows: THIS FILE IS A THREAT
me: but i made it
I mean if I make a VBS file to delete everything, does that make it perfectly safe?
I use vbs files for many purposes being a software developer. Straight from the harddisk Windows doesn’t ask any security questions. If you download them, Windows gives a “are you sure” question just like any other file you download. That is not vbs specific.
I had that problem too back when I was into VBS in like 2014, back when all I knew about VBS was the Scripts I found on the internet. I mean, seriously? A VBS File that just randomly opens and closes the disc drive is a threat??? Oh no! It’s not like the optical drive is a crucial part of Windows anyway. 🙃 These days, I’m into programming on the Mac. But yeah, fun times with VBS & Batch Files.
Other OSes also have the option to ignore the extension and just read the header of the file to see what it is, so even a file with no extension is still readable as, for example, a text file or an executable, which I think is pretty cool
Video length 4:20 & it's 4/20 when its uploaded here in Australia hehe
4:19 for me
Sir how much you were paid for saying that you are from Australia?
The video length is 4 minutes, 19 seconds. Today is 4/19.
Lit Fam 🍁🔥
4:20 in Germany too
Strangely enough Unix variants ignore file extension, but read the file header. It's not really slow and actually a better solution.
File extension can be as long as you want, basically everything after the last "." is the extension. On a daily basis I work with file where the extension is 8 characters long.
BTW, extensions of 1 or 2 characters is commonly used as well.
Not really an essential feature, and not worth making a video about.
0:27
**Laughs in .AppImage**
*laughs in .c and .h*
*Laughs in .flatpakref*
Adding the explanation to the end of the title really helps. Otherwise it feels too clickbaity, but with the "File Extensions Explained" you know exactly what you're getting in to.
Actually most files save their encoding and file type inside of them in plain text, that's why a good amount of operating systems know to open images without extensions.
Hiding file extension in Windows is one of the recent "features" Microsoft introduce in attempt to make it more n00b friendly but really is annoying. Just like changing "Add/Remove Program" to "Program and Features", instead of at beginning of Control Pannel list, it's somewhere in the middle and takes few more second to hunt for it....
Sadly windows by default hides it.
Ending right at 4:20 the day before 4/20... i think James is tryna tell us something subliminally here 😂😂
"two three or four letters you see after the file name"
huh, okay, guess my main.c file doesn't have a file extension then
Lol
And my app.xcodeproj file doesn’t have extension too
Win 10 and 8 yes you can find the default program extension easier now ....but back on anything past 7 you have to right click on the file>folder options>file types and change them as needed
File extensions turned off by default is stupid (I always turn it on when setting up a pc)
It's turned off by default so normies can't inadvertently delete the file extension when attempting to rename a file
@@Biker_Gremling Windows automatically highlights the filename not the dot extension, I don't think I have ever come across a customer that has ever removed the file extension, if they have someone has probably already told them that we need to keep the file extension on (I been doing this for over 20 years setting file extension to on as I find it's a stupid default to have it off ever)
4.20min on a video released the 19.4.
You were on the verge of greatness!!
0:27 wait, since when are .h and other 1-letter ones no longer considered file-extensions?
And .m .c .d, .nanorc .script over 4
.Xauthority and .ucioljfhnztfhiugfrbvjzggjuzvhu are file extensions too
.c
.mcmeta
Lol
idk
File extentions also change the file innately. When analyzing audio we have to save as a .WAV file as they are less compressed than a normal .MP3 or .MP4 file
Can we get these videos in dark mode? My eyes are screaming...
@My Name *facepalm*
@My Name I hope this is a troll. 🤣
@@adamkee97 😂😂
Or just watch it at an appropriate time of day? :P
@@Sparrowash97 Me and the channel is about 12 hours a day... So, as a fan that needs to watch it ASAP, I'll have to watch it at night... 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
This one was really good. Way to go man!
Executable bit in unix permissions is such a great thing.
The executable bit only tells if a file is executable or not. That is something totally different from Windows file extensions. On the Linux console you cannot do ./image.jpg or ./music.mp3
@@Engineer9736 , you could just change the behavior of trying to execute non-executable files and feed them into something like xdg-open. It's Linux and "You cannot do X!" isn't really a thing over here. ^^
If you draw something in paint and chane it to .txt there will be random symbols everywhere
no love for the 1 letter file extensions FeelsBadMan
Well done. Informative instead of a comedy sketch filled with inside jokes. More plz!
I can't hear you over the quietness of my Linux system. >___
In absolute silence, The Sound of Silence plays.
to be more comprehensive about that topic, you might have adressed the priority order of system extensions which allows any OS to know in which order it has to search, find and execute files when they appear in a folder or at the root of any memory device (specifically a boot hdd, cd or usb thumb): sys, bat, com, exe, dll, db... most of them inherited from antiquated systems like CP/M or DOS.
.SCR, .TTF files are both executable as well.
That being said, Linux uses that allegedly inefficient means of identifying files by looking at the first few bytes.
That way you *KNOW* if someone's trying to slip your computer a micky.
File extension way back to the MS/PC/IBM DOS (Disk Operating System -a variant of CPM) of the 1980s. Windows 1 through 10 keep this outdated legacy alive. Just like drive letters.
0:39 Actually, that's kind of exactly how linux does it. Can make up BS file extensions or just not have one, and it still works. Carry on.
I may know all of this already, but its still important to have a refresh which this video has provided very well.
linux gang tho
Yeah
file extensions are shown by default and the type isn't determined by the extension but the content (in most cases)
Initial D?
@@reflex3843 im a fan of initial d, y
@@zachwax22 So am I. Nice to meet someone like me.
I haven't watched Techquickie for some time. It looks crispy.
Added bonus: Laser James.
It looks like you uploaded this video with the wrong title!
Like, I couldn’t even stinkin’ see enough of the title to know what it was gonna be before opening the video. And the thumbnail isn’t really helping me figure it out either.
Not sure whether to give this video a like or dislike. On one hand, it's always great to tell people to show their file extensions so that they don't download .exes by mistake. On the other hand, I don't agree with looking at a file to see what it is being inefficient: Linux, and some Windows applications including Microsoft's own Office 2013 (one time I renamed a .docx to .doc and it gave an error correctly informing me the extension was wrong) are capable of doing this just fine. It would be nice to see a re-upload of this using file extensions as an excuse for bashing on Windows for how clunky of an OS it is. Edit: James also forgot to mention that there's a unicode character that reverses spelling, for example cable_fl4pm.exe becomes cable_flexe.mp4
Conclusion: just don't use Windows.
Yeah, that is a bug, not a feature. Try using MIME types the next time.
Or learn about "magic" like it's used on every unix-like system...
MIME? Pfft, use Uniform Type Identifiers. They're much more flexible.
@@MaddTheSane MIME is cross-platform and cross-application.
Windows relies only on files extensions, but other OSes can use something called "magic numbers" (yeah, that's their actual name) to determine the type of file. The first 4 bytes will tell you as much as the file extension, with the benefit that no one changes it, so they're usually more reliable
Linux actually does scan the file to figure out how to open it
There is a line the programmer can add to tell Linux wich Programm to use to open it
#! is used for executable files that are not binaries, like scripts. This doesn't apply to non executables like images and text files.
Love the video time length, is that a nod to tomorrows holiday? ;)
This video wasn't edited with kdenlive. Otherwise, they would've known that file extensions can have 8 letters 😂
Kdenlive fellow user here
Amiga had an interesting way of doing things.
Some files could and did have file extension, but since most users were using an operating system on floppy disk, knowing what all the file extensions should be used with weren't stored, because the OS could be older than your program, and likely on a different floppy disk.
There was one file extension that always existed though, .info, and basically every file that was saved, also had another file of the same name, with .info tacked on the end.
trying to open a file would cause the OS to look at a file's .info file, which would hold information like, custom icon, and what program to try and open it with, including the name of the disk, and directory of the app.
Of course this is a system 35+ years old now, but, makes sense when you consider a floppy disk as your main storage system.
Me: changes .mkv to .avi
FBI: Open up!
MAN, I love James, he's a super good host, if he likes it, he should definitely do it more often!
Also beware of .BAT extensions too.
You don't want a foreign CMD command running on your PC.
Darn batches.
fileinfo.com/browse/ all file extensions that you will need to know
There are many more extensions that just have the same “beware” aspects. vbs, ps1, ..
No beware of .xex I got a virus and it shut down my pc
jkj jkjkjkjjkjk
In my opinion this video is not very accurate. In some binary formats* in the beginning of the file theres a header** that usually tells which format the file really is, for example png or jpeg. Scince the jpeg/jfif format is not the same as the png format their headers are different. So if you take a png file and change the extension to an extension of the jfif family (jpeg, jpg) it will still read the file as a png due to the header in the beginning*** (and vice versa, try it), other program that are designed well utilize the header as a reliable discriptor of the file type and format****. Therefore the file extension is and should always be a mere tool for the end user to use and not the OS and programs. (Sorry for bad English and grammar)
*mp4, png, jpeg, pdf, docx, odt, elf, exe, etc. Text files are a different story, they usually open with a text editor
**stream of perticular bytes of data. you can check for file headers in the gary kessler website
***you can check the header format of your binary files in a hex editor
****this is a serious security concern. You wouldnt want to run a mallicious executable file on a server just because it has an .mp4 extension
Imagine needing file extensions to figure out what file you have
This post was made by the Linux gang
Wow I totaly did ignore and definitely didn't get mislead by that title, thanks LMG very cool
You got an instant view out of me when I realised that the video length was 4:20
I feel like LinusTechTips would really benefit with having a TechBasics channel. This video would be perfect for people who are wanting to know more about computers but don't know very much, but I don't think it's particularly useful for the kind of person who subscribes to the already existing LMG channels.
QuiteOpinionated you kind of just described this channel
@@Scalloops I think there's a difference though, between knowing what a file extension is and the other videos on this channel, like explaining USB's different naming conventions, explaining WPA3 and talking about the differences between NVME and SATA.
Like, I get that this channel is for more casual tech enthusiasts, but I can't imagine someone who's subscribed to this channel not knowing was a file extension is.
rename the title to "The Windows Feature You dont notice"
Neverwinter Nights (from Bioware) and The Sims 2 were the games which taught me how important it is to *_not_* let latter versions of Windows hide your file extensions! "Let's see...this directory has *_three_* files named 'NWN'. Which one do I double-click to start the game?"
Did Microsoft _ever_ have a good reason to *_hide_* the file extensions? 🤨
But I use Linux...
This video wasn't meant for you then, same with me, my setup is just a Nintendo ds
Gosh! I just realized how much I have aged. I do take file extensions for granted. As in: I know which file is what (i must know). I think they were visible till Windows 95 / Windows 98 by default. They were hidden from Windows ME / XP onwards I think.
Thanks for this. Was very nostalgic.
Sure its good and all.
But my goodness, it isnt a windows exclusive feature. Neither was it made by the windows devs
Cheb did he say that???
Windows File Extension feature can also help you hide your "homework videos" better.
You could just change the extension to something like .cache and no one would bother checking it out.
The video length is 4:20.
.
.
.
.
.
.
*Is it a co-incidence?*
Some OS does not make use of file extensions, at least not exclusively or by default. Most Linux GUI uses the program "file" to determine the file type, and that program looks into not only the file extension, but also file signatures, and for text files even its contents.
Isn't this knowledge already in a public domain?
In the early 2000's I used to change a .jpg to a .doc when submitting a report at school when I was about to miss the submission deadline.
Always worked to fool the teacher into thinking it was a software issue.
Clickbait LTT, but not techquickie.
'That would be an inefficient and inexact process' Because apparently you guys don't already know that every major file format has a unique set of 'magic bytes' that identifies exactly what sort of file it is, which is why all Unix platforms don't care at all about the concepts of file extensions. MIME types exist for a reason and there's no real reason why file extensions _should_ be trusted as it's actually a pretty simple way to exploit systems and more importantly, naive and ignorant humans who'll happily download a malicious payload called cats.png, because it's just an image, right?
" which is why all Unix platforms don't care at all about the concepts of file extensions"
No one cares about crappy OSes that no one uses.
0 everything club here, wassup
good that i made the file extensions show even to known extensions
edit: .wtf files actually exist, they are known as *World of Warcraft Text File* and can be opened by world of warcraft or (of course) a text editor
Magnificent.
> man 5 magic
Where is your God now!
In Linux they are semi used. File explorers can use them to show thumbnails and the aforementioned icon type and default program list, but the actual OS will try to open whatever file with whatever program you tell it. The extension is completely ignored.
Who uses file extentions for most files anyways ?
Comment from the *Nix group !
right?
This post was made by the Amiga and Mac OS pre-10.0 gang
I actually did this while looking at this video.
Thank you.
_checks today's date, looks at time on video_
*Nice*
This is great information for a computer n00b, but the title made me think there was something I didn't already know about file extensions. Instead, I was taken back to kindergarten.
By default the average Joe is not going to know what the file extension is because it is disabled by default!
"2, 3 or 4 letters"
Blender files: *trembles in fear*
James, no fault of yours, but this content belongs to a 90's video. Thumbs down.
"See, your operating system doesn't just analyse the internal code of a file and try to figure out what it is, that would be an inefficient and inexact process"
Most do...
Amazing that MicroShaft still hasn't changed the default to Always Show ALL File Extensions. To be quite honest the option to NOT show file extensions shouldn't even be available in the first place.
It's so that the 90% of computer users don't accidentally delete the extension while renaming the file and lose access.
@@chetanaik That is not an acceptable excuse. Not slamming you, but MS.
@@cee128d How is it Microsoft's fault that people are tech illiterate? As the most common OS, they need to support the lowest common denominator. People like you or me, i.e. tech savvy people would already know about this and have likely set up their PC just so.
@@chetanaik It has nothing to do with being tech illiterate. Security and Windows Experts have been saying since day one that having Extensions Hidden is one of the worst part of Windows and needs to be changed. I'm just agreeing with them. If a user screws up and deletes an extension because of that so be it. At least they have a better chance to avoid security issues that way.
And the issue isn't to dumb down Windows to the lowest common denominator. The issue needs to be to raise the users technical knowledge. You don't see Linux, BSD, Unix, or any other operating system hiding them and they don't have problems because of it.
@@cee128d That's being blind to the realities of the world. Lots of people don't care about computers and are satisfied with the knowledge of how to open a browser and google something. Public wifi hotspots are like ridiculously unsecure and are on the top of the "don'ts list" for any security consultant worth their salt. Doesn't mean it's going to go away.
Linux and unix rightfully have a reputation of not being very user friendly; it's not an issue as it's user base is on average are power users and computer literate.
Making this option on by default would save the small fraction who actually care about this 5 seconds, whole ruining the user experience for the rest of the user base.
There's also file metadata and file headers and bits like the executable flag in most unix systems which tbh is a much better way of tracking what the data inside the file is so you can't just run it blindly by changing it's name to a .exe but i guess the file extension method also works.
Dude, what’s your point? Stopped half way through. Your video is around 25 years late. You should have published when Windows 3.1 was launched 🤣🤣🤣
Not everybody knows about "show extensions for known types".
And of course, it's useful for education, and teaching people who are new at computers about this.
My eyes burn watching TechQuickie with Dark mode at 1am at night with all that White background and White t shirt
but but but what about the files that only have an ''a'', ''c'' or a ''z'' after them :P
MrZombie A and C are for files related to the C language, as are .h files. no idea what .z is, but it’s probably from the early days of computing and *nix.
Windows doesn't use single letter extensions for anything tho, and on UNIX based systems it's just to show its purpose, tho the binary can run without it
Blazy The length of the extension doesn’t matter. Windows still recognises .c files as C source files.
Blazy The file extenson on linux is to show what type of document/text it is, but binary file extensions don’t need extensions because they have the executable bits and markers at the beginning to tell what to execute them with.
Finally the perfect video length.
pffftttt...extensions have been important since wayyyyyy before windows. Not exactly a feature...clickbait title...I am so disappointed.
Nice details... Thanks for the information techquickie..