windows xp - Rename file in XP, only select file name, but show file extension

So if I have a file called: test.txt and I want to rename it, there are two options (depending on the Show already known file extension option):

1) ON:
it selects everything (test.txt), meaning I have to manually select "test" and replace it with the new filename. (which is irritating)

2) OFF:
Only "test" is editable (and visible).

Problem is that I frequently need to change the file extension of a file, but if the option is turned on, it's a pain to change the file name.

I know that in Win7 it does something smart: It only selects the file name when you press rename[F2], but also lets you edit the file extension.

Is there a way to accomplish this?

Answer

Pitaschio has that feature (among a bunch of others).

If you're looking for only that feature, there's also TheEnd, which is a nicely packaged AutoHotkey script to do the same thing.

I've seen other tools as well to add that feature to Explorer, but can't hunt any of them down right now.

Finally, you could use an Explorer replacement. Unfortunately, most of them tend to suck in one way or another.