Frequently Asked Questions, Reply 3

Would the system run all files with that filename? And would those files run in the order listed in the directory, or do the extensions have a priority?

Hello,

Thank you for your question. In response, complete file names include the extension. So technically, you cannot have duplicate files within the same folder/directory. That is a computing no no. It should be noted, however, you can have duplicate files in your computer, but they must be in different folders.

When you speak about running a filename, I presume you are using the 'Run' command from the Start menu. If that is the case, the computer will go to the Windows folder and run only the filename with the .exe extension on it. You can only run exe files (executable). There are several different kind of executable files, (com or bat) but with today's technology most programs use exe files to launch.

The first part of file names are often duplicated, but each serves a different purpose in the system. As an example, ini are program information files and inf are hardware information files that Windows uses. gif, jpg, pcx, bmp and tif are different kinds of picture files.

As a final note, your computer has been told what program to use when you double click on most files. If it doesn't know what program to use, when you double click on a file, a window will open and ask you to choose from the programs you have on your computer. For example, if you downloaded a pdf file (which needs Adobe Acrobat reader) and you don't have it on your computer, you would be asked what to use. In this case, it wouldn't matter what program you chose, none of your programs would work. You would have to go to adobe, download and install acrobat reader before you could open the pdf file.

I hope this answers your question.

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