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larrys50763330
larrys50763330
Participant
June 17, 2018
Answered

PDF to MS Dos

  • June 17, 2018
  • 4 replies
  • 5190 views

I am recently having a problem saving PDF files to my USB drive.  Whenever I open an email of a receipt in hotmail on google chrome, I go to "more actions" and hit "print", then hit "print" again where it takes me to a print page that will allow me to change the destination to "save as pdf".  Then it goes back to the print page and allows me to save the file.  When I hit "save", I can set the file name and save as a pdf file.

The problem is, when I go to open the file to print it at a later date, all I find is an MS Dos application under that file name.  I have been saving receipts like this for years, and until about three or four months ago, never had any problem.  Also, last month it did the same thing from a vendor's web site.  I couldn't even save their receipt as a pdf file.

Can someone help me out?

    Correct answer dino_9694

    If ".COM" is just a part of the file name then it should still be a PDF file, and removing it should be sufficient. If the file is not recognized as a PDF, try adding ".pdf" to the end of its name manually.
    To check if it's really a PDF file or not, all you need to do is open it in a plain-text editor on your computer.
    If the first line is something like this (the number may vary), then it's a PDF:

    %PDF-1.7

    If it's not that, then it's something else.


    I was able to open it after saving it as an archive. The original text is gone- it's just jibberish or code. Fortunately I can still replace the documents and receipts affected. Thanks for heloing out.

    4 replies

    L
    leveegal
    Participant
    August 21, 2023

    Yes!  I am now having the same problem.  I am saving my bank credit card charges down as PDF (using the same print/save system I normally use).  I choose the charge, print and choosing PDF.  Yet when I go to open the file in it's location folder, it is now an MS-DOS application.  What the heck?  So much time wasted, and I see this problem showed up in 2018, and now recurring in 2023.  If someone knows how to fix this, please advise.  If I find an answer, I will respond here as well.  

      D
      dino_9694
      Participant
      June 2, 2025

      Same problem here in 2025- No idea how this happened- files did not have a dot com in name and I can't convert them back to PDF. 😞

      D
      dino_9694Correct answer
      Participant
      June 2, 2025

      If ".COM" is just a part of the file name then it should still be a PDF file, and removing it should be sufficient. If the file is not recognized as a PDF, try adding ".pdf" to the end of its name manually.
      To check if it's really a PDF file or not, all you need to do is open it in a plain-text editor on your computer.
      If the first line is something like this (the number may vary), then it's a PDF:

      %PDF-1.7

      If it's not that, then it's something else.


      I was able to open it after saving it as an archive. The original text is gone- it's just jibberish or code. Fortunately I can still replace the documents and receipts affected. Thanks for heloing out.

      B
      Brenda308185737fig
      Participant
      June 30, 2023

      While this is an old thread, I came across it looking for the same answer. I figured out what worked for me and I hope that this will work for someone else. When choosing to save a file as pdf when using a browser (Mine is Opera Version:99.0.4788.65), when the next box pops up after print to pdf, look in the "File Name" box. Mine was saving with a .com extension. Remove the extension beginning with .com or .Whatever. Or just rename the file with no extension. Then click on save. 

        jane-e
        Community Expert
        jane-eCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        June 17, 2018

        Can you post screen shots so we can see your workflow?

        Are you using an MS-DOS computer?!? If not, what is your operating system and version?

        T
        Test Screen Name
        Legend
        June 17, 2018

        what exactly are you calling your files? I suspect you’re putting a dot in the name. Maybe even ending the names .com?

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