Windows adds exteneion to file that alrready has one

[Bill Stinson]

When I download a file from the internet that has an EXE
extension, Windows XP adds a .PCX after the EXE. However,
it displays it in explorer with a PAINT icon and an EXE
extension. When I double click on the icon it shows an
error message and shows the file name as xxx.exe.pcx, and I
cannot figure how to get rid of the phantom PCX or how to
prevent it from being added onto the file in the first
place. HELP!!!

[Bob Kingsley]

"Bill Stinson" > wrote in message
...
> When I download a file from the internet that has an EXE
> extension, Windows XP adds a .PCX after the EXE. However,
> it displays it in explorer with a PAINT icon and an EXE
> extension. When I double click on the icon it shows an
> error message and shows the file name as xxx.exe.pcx, and I
> cannot figure how to get rid of the phantom PCX or how to
> prevent it from being added onto the file in the first
> place. HELP!!!

Hi Bill,

Do you have an antivirus program running? Maybe the reason why the .pcx
extension was added to the .exe file is because an AV program thinks the
..exe file has a virus and has "quarantined" it by adding the .pcx extension.
You should probably be very careful about following the instructions below,
in case you unleash something nasty into your PC!

Having said that, try this to change the filename:

open a folder like My Computer, and on the menu bar click Tools / Folder
Options ... View, then uncheck the box "Hide extensions for known file
types", then click OK. Now you should be able to see the whole file name of
the file with the double extension. You should be able to right-click it and
select "Rename", then remove the .pcx part of the filename. Click OK. You
should then go to Tools / Folder Options ... / View again and check the
"Hide extensions" again.

BK