Vista Annoyances, Part 3

Today’s Vista annoyance: Explorer refuses to rename files to names that start with a period.

I want to rename “htaccess” to “.htaccess” (an Apache configuration file):

Trying to hit Enter here gives you:

If you use any software that comes from a Unix background, where files that start with a period are common because by default many tools hide those files, get used to doing these sorts operations from the command line.

4 Responses to “Vista Annoyances, Part 3”

  1. soundchaser Says:

    I find I can turn off most of the annoying cr@p Vista throws at me but then I feel that other than eye candy there is no reason to leave XP. IS Vista REALLY more secure than a completely updated XP? I hate the grouping in filemanager my windows update keeps turning off, a few other b!tch3s but Vista is mostly flawless. Man if I could pretty up XP like Vista I think I’d go back! I use the file manager 80% of the time (I handle vast quantities of files) and it NEVER remembers my settings and folder renames do not refresh!
    These probs occur on both machines.

    Yes, I do regret buying the laptop and the new desktop . . .

    p.s. I been around since dos 3!

  2. Steve Says:

    Ok, I just came across this. I really wish this was something that can be turned off. I can see if the computer was set to “Grandmother Mode” then yes, it would be nice to not let my grandmother save files without a name. But I WANT to rename htaccess.txt to .htaccess and it makes me sad that I am not allowed to. I have some minor irritations about Vista but seriously, this one needs to be taken care of.

  3. Bob Says:

    XP does the same thing.

  4. Drew G Says:

    simple solution:

    - open prompt
    (in vista click start icon, type in cmd.exe in program search menu, open it)
    - navigate to file htaccess.txt folder
    (“dir” to view folders/files in current directory, “cd ..” to go to up a folder level, “cd foldername” to move into a folder in your current directory)
    - rename file
    (“rename htaccess.txt .htaccess”)

    :)

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