I agree - it's one of the first things I do, show all extensions and hidden files. Next thing is get rid of as many icons in file manager as I can and show 'details'. I just went thro the pain of changing from XP to 7 after the XP box died and it seemed time to move on what with XP support coming to an end soon. But the 'hide extensions' business is just a minor irritation compared to the hassle of reinstalling all programs. I would prefer to be able to change an OS without touching the applications. And file manager in 7 has some unbelievable inconveniences compared with previous versions. philj