Classic Shell: Forum

Hello,

I was wondering if it is possible in some way to add an option for a file extension column in Explorer.

As it is now you can only sort for type, which is a problem as soon as a program overwrites the types with his own name or some generic name. E.g. if you associate a .log-file with editor, the new filetype will be textdocument. Now if you sort after type, files will not be sorted correctly after their fileextension, but the filetypegroup they belong to. The easiest solution would be to find a program that rewrites all filetypes with the coresponding fileextension. BUT I find the types category pretty helpful in many cases. It's just very helpful to see at a glance if a file is for example some kind of textdocument, an autocad-file or an programxyzconfiguration-file. I often find files on a computer, where I wouldn't know the corresponding program in a heartbeat. One look at the type and many times my question is answered.

In Windows XP, people used cpext as an addin for the explorer, to be able to sort after the fileextension. Since In Vista the support for such column-handler-addins was stopped, the general consensus seems to be, that it is impossible to do. Maybe someone could shed light on this. If it is impossible, then I can forget about it and be done. If it can be done, I would be very happy for an implementation.

Unfortunately, Microsoft removed the ability to add custom columns in Explorer in Vista and it's been the same ever since. Windows 8 adds a file extension column but that OS may not be worth upgrading to just for that column.

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I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

That's a pity. I will consider carefully if an upgrade to Windows 8 is justified by getting an fileextension column. I thank you very much for your fast reply and am still wondering how something like this didn't find it's way into Windows 7...