PDF to MS Dos

[larrys50763330]

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?

[Test Screen Name]

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

[jane-e]

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?

[Brenda308185737fig]

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. 

[leveegal]

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.  

[dino_9694]

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. 😞

[try67]

Be very careful! .COM files are executables. If you double-clicked on one you ran the code in it, which could cause damage to your computer. 

[dino_9694]

I just did a test with my printer. I tried downloading some documents from Chase bank. The file name generated ended in Chase.com. That's never happened before. I removed the ,com from the name and it downloaded normally as a PDF. I don't know if the problem is generated by Chase or a Windows update. I do know that I can't run the file or convert it back to PDF. I tried, but ,com apps are not a supported file format on online converters that I used.  Surely Microsoft can figure out a solution...

[try67]

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.

[dino_9694 · Accepted solution]

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.

[AnandSri]

Hello @dino_9694!

I hope you are doing well.

++Adding to what our community product expert has already shared, you can try renaming the file

• Right-click the downloaded file.

• Select "Rename" and make sure it ends in .pdf (for example: Statement.pdf).

• Press Enter and try opening it with Adobe Acrobat or Reader.

To Prevent This:
Try downloading with a different browser.

Or, after download, always verify the file extension ends in .pdf.

I hope this helps.

Thanks,

Anand Sri.