Hi shaddy101,

The first question is going to be what files are you trying to rename and for what reason?

It should try to fight you, if you try to rename a file that is currently in use by a program.

It can be fatal to rename a system file.

Guess you don't want to tell us what filename.ext you were trying to rename ?

That sounds like the message I get when I do not include the extension in the new file name.

It doesn't seem to matter what type of files I want to rename, just won't let me do it.
I have some crochet pattern files, not to withold this important evidence fellas, just didn't think it was all that pertinent! I either make them into a pdf file, or even just a regular folder, and the program, whichever it is, won't let me rename the files without losing the files, which is something I want to keep, just change the name is all.
BOB-what would be the extension in the new file name that I might have to put in the title? I am not sure on some things yet, but as I spoke earlier, this has never happened until some rework on the machine, methinks it has something to do with that?
I am trying to teach myself some new things, and one would be to take a picture OUT of a pdf file, put it into Paint, and make a cover pic of the photo. Is that the correct way to do it? Then, post the pdf file, and the cover pic in the same email, and poof done? Is this correct? Still need to know why the machine won't let me rename any or all of my files without a fight on my hands, and of course, I usually lose, cuz I don't know what I am doing!
Shaddy

Might look in Control Panel and users .. make sure your login name is a System Administrator.

While in control panel you might want to look sround in Folder Options and make sure its set to NOT hide file extensions.

ok say you have one of your crochet patterns named
baby hat pattern.pdf and you want to change that to childs hat pattern.pdf you would right click on the actual name of that file in your folder on your pc hard drive and select rename, the box around the file name will change and it will become hilighted, now you can just delete that whole name or you can just change what is hilighted and only hilight the word baby, hit delete and then type in childs in it's place, that would now make it say childs hat pattern.pdf. If however you have deleted the entire name you would also have deleted the file extension as was mentioned which in this case is .pdf you can not change a file name and not give it a file extension if you do then your computer has no idea what to do with it or how to find it. Which could be what you have been doing. So in this example if you had deleted the entire name you would now type in childs hat pattern.pdf so it would have the complete name and file extension.

so if you change a name make absolutely certain you are NOT removing the file extension. If it is a picture it would probably be .jpg or .gif what ever file it is you need to pay attention to what the proper file extension is before you make any changes to the name and keep that file extension in tact.

My question is what does your browser have to do with it because you are not using your browser when changing a file name that is stored on your pc. You are trying to change the names of files already on your pc right? These files are like in a folder on your computer? NOT files in email or somewhere online????

The reason we asked what files you were trying to change was not to be nosy but it makes a huge difference in what you can and can not do depending on what kind of file you are messing with. you would not want to changing some system files for example. So it is always best to give us as much info as you possibly can so we can get a clear picture of what is being done.

I wonder if they are opening the PDF files from a site in their browser and trying to do something that way instead of saving to the hard drive and re-naming. That would be the only way a browser would be involved.

I have many PDF crochet patterns and I just right click one in a folder on my hard drive and hit rename and give it a new name and done. I have always found I have better luck saving PDF's from a site to the hard drive instead of opening in the browser. Mary

yes it sure could be! I too always save to my hard drive then open them. That could be the problem.

Shaddy, I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. The extension on the new file name has to be the same as on the old. You cannot change a file to a pdf file just by changing the extension if that's what you're trying to do. What is the extension on the pattern files?

Also she states she is trying to take a picture out of the PDF. How are you doing that, online or with a program? I use PDF to image converter I bought years ago and I have to break apart the whole PDF can't just take one photo out but there are online sites that will break apart the whole PDF into JPEG's for free.

You should post step by step how you are renaming the PDF and how you are making it into JPEG's, might give a clue as to what is causing the problems. Mary

I missed the part about copying the picture from the pdf file. Shaddy, one way to copy a picture from a pdf file without a lot of trouble is using a screen capture utility like Liteshot. Go to this page: Lightshot downloads and download Liteshot for windows. Install it and open the pdf file. Push your print screen button and your cursor will have a message at the point that says 'select area'. Draw a rectangle around the picture and then right click on the picture and click 'Copy' on the drop down menu.Now open paint and click the paste button and your picture will be there. Liteshot is a small program and very useful.

OK folks, have printed out some of your wisdom, gonna try and work with it over the weekend. I believe I have the gist of the problem now, and downloaded the Lightshot program, and see what that might be able to do to help me out.
Many thanks to you all, for investing in my problem, and hope to be able to write back and say I done it right!
Have a great Thanksgiving?
Shaddy

Post back what was causing the files to not be renamed, will be curious to know and what solved it. Mary

Yes it is most helpful for us as well as others that may have similar problems.
I would really like to know if the files are saved to the pc or elsewhere.

At this time, am unable to spend the time trying to solve this problem, but will try and work on it slowly and find the reasoning behind all this.
Assuming that I can now take the pic out of the pdf, and remake a cover pic, at least that part is right, but still want to try changing the file name, and not being able to do so. Trying the fellas advice there, perhaps it was a mistake on my part, but as I said, never did that previously, so there is something out of whack. Wish I could lay my finger on it immediately, and do the deed. I have to take things slowly, and implant it in my head, writing down as I go, sometimes Adult ADD is not the easiest thing to deal with, learning that daily.
thanks to all for your assists.

I have never had a problem right clicking and changing a file name so will be curious to see why that is for future reference in case it happens to me or a friend. Hope you get it sorted eventually. Mary

Shaddy, it would help if you could tell us the name of one file you're trying to change and what you're trying to change it to. Include the file extension also.

Posted by ravencajun
"so if you change a name make absolutely certain you are NOT removing the file extension"

That's kinda what I suspect.

Do you have file extensions set to be shown? Not shown?

With extensions shown you'll see a dot in almost all of your file names The extension is the part after the dot(last dot if there's more than one), When you rename the file, you need to not change the part after the last dot.

Unfortunately, with extensions shown, it would also be easy to right-click-->rename-->type in a new name, hit "Enter", and wipe out the file extension... causing Windows to throw a warning, which if ignored would cause Windows to no longer know how to open the file.

{{gwi:1507620}}




If you have extensions hidden(as Windows comes), it seems unlikely that you would accidentally change/remove the file extension. The extension isn't shown nor highlighted when renaming the file, so couldn't be accidentally changed.

{{gwi:1507621}}




Is this possibly the warning you're getting?

{{gwi:1507622}}

I don't really know, just throwing it out there... just in case.

I agree though, that it would help to have more info. such as file name and especially the file extension.

BTW, I always set Windows to show me extensions. Nothing wrong with that, just gotta make sure not to change the extension when renaming. :)

Shaddy, think Chuggerguy has the right answer for you and has explained it very well. I had the same thing happen to one of my machines a year or two ago, and having the file extension unchecked is what caused it. Putting that checkmark back in, fixed it fast. Good Luck to you. :-)Cat

Another way to get a picture from a PDF file is to use the Print Screen function. Paste it in your paint program and crop it then save as a JPEG file.

Never thought that I would see the name CAT again, are you the lady from years ago when I first came online? You and Dream Weaver sure helped me thru a lot of probs. Yes, I agree that Chugger guy has the right track, and will try to see if that be the case, as the final picture he put up is the exact thing I see, and hoping to be able to change it. If not, will return and beg for help again!

CHUGGERGUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are sumpin else, thanks so much, I did the deed, and bingo, things are right once again, but then, with my luck it could go wrong too, but sure hope you will accept my humble thank yous, and trust you might stick around this place, and help someone, including myself, at another date?

You're welcome shaddy101. I'm glad to hear you're able to rename files again.

Sure I'll stick around. This is a good place to learn new things. :-)

If you open a photo to full size on your screen, you cannot rename it by right-clicking. To rename, right-click on the photo's thumbnail or icon before enlarging it.