The Disappearing Program?

[MRAB]

rzed wrote:
> "W. eWatson" <wolftracks at invalid.com> wrote in
> news:hlls5c$89l$1 at news.eternal-september.org: 
> 
>> I've successfully compiled several small python programs on Win
>> XP into executables using py2exe. A program goes from a name like
>> snowball.py to snowball. A dir in the command prompt window finds
>> snowball.py but not snowball. If I type in snowball, it executes.
>> What's up with that? 
> 
> There is a ludicrous setting in Windows explorer that hides the 
> extensions for known file types, such as .exe. If you see "snowball" 
> in Win Explorer, that's probably the way your system is set. If you 
> click on Tools . Folder Options . View you should see a checkbox for 
> the "Hide extensions for known file types" option. Uncheck it, and the 
> disappearing program will return to view.
> 
The problem with that setting is that an .exe file could masquerade as
some other type, eg "foo.txt.exe" would appear as "foo.txt", so you
might have thought that you were safe opening it because it's just text.

> This is a separate issue for why snowball.py executes when you enter 
> "snowball" at the command line.
>