Windows 7: Multiple file rename question

Go to a command prompt.
Change to the directory in which the files are located.
Type command ren AA* BB*

And there you have it.

I recommend this app.

Hi Mick,

I've worked out how to change the directory in the command prompt but the rename command (ren AA* BB* - the actual syntax I'm using is: ren HK_* HK *) results in a 'file not found' response.

I can't figure why this is, as there are loads of 'HK_' files.

Doing a batch file name change in the command prompt is easy ONLY if you're trying to keep the exact same number of characters in the file name.  For example, your request to change all "AA"s to "BB"s would be easy because both "AA" and "BB" are the same length.  If you were trying to change "AA" to "RENAMED" then that would make a mess of everything, changing all the "AA"s to "RE"s and then attempting to change the further 5 characters in each file name (whatever they might be) to "NAMED".  So, let's assume that your desired change is in fact what you gave as an example and I'll show an example that's similar.

First, to open the command prompt, click on the Windows logo in the lower left and you'll get a menu that opens similar to what I show here.



In the box where it reads Search programs and files, type
cmd
and hit enter.  This will run the command prompt program, CMD.EXE - the starting point will look similar to this.



Now you need to figure out how to get to your target directory. You can always tell what directory you're in - it's shown immediately before your flashing cursor.  In my case, I'm in the directory C:\Users\Ryan.  Each piece of the directory listing is the equivalent to a folder inside a folder inside a folder (etc.) in Windows Explorer.

You need to know where you want to go, of course, but it's just the equivalent of clicking on folders within Windows Explorer.  First things first - make a directory listing so you can see the contents of your current directory.  Type
dir
and hit enter ("dir" is an abbreviation for "directory", the command prompt equivalent of a folder).  If you have a whole bunch of stuff in your directory, then your listing will be too long to fit on the screen and you'll probably miss a bunch of listings.  If that's the case, you can improve your "dir" command like this - instead of the short "dir" command, I have typed
dir | more
and after taking the above screen capture, I hit enter.  That vertical line is called a pipe - on my keyboard, it's a capitalized backslash.  It might be elsewhere on yours.  This will give you just enough listings to fill one screen - hit the space bar each time you want to read another screen.  Below is what my directory listing looks like.



In this case, I want to go into the directory (the folder) named "Desktop".  I have already typed
cd Desktop
and after taking the screen capture, I hit enter - "cd" is an abbreviation for "change directory".  On my desktop, I know that I have a folder named "stamp scans" that holds a bunch of scanned images.  But I want to make sure, so I'll do a directory listing again - I type
dir
and I hit enter.



Lots of other stuff on my desktop, but you can see my desired target directory "stamp scans" listed in the screen above (directories always have "<DIR>" before them in these listings - files don't).  Again, I need to use the "cd" command to go into that directory / folder.  I have already typed
cd stamp scans
and after taking the screen capture, I hit enter to go into that directory.  Then I typed
dir
and I hit enter to get a directory listing of my "stamp scans" directory / folder.  Here's what the end of that listing looks like.



You can steer your way through your directories (folders) using the "cd" command.  If you ever find you've gone "down" too many levels and you need to go back "up", type
cd ..
and hit enter.  The two periods are an old DOS shorthand command to go back up a directory level.

In my example, I'm going to change all those .JPG files starting with "scan" to something that starts with "xxxx".  Again, it's important to keep the replacement string length the same as the target string length.  As I said, things can get messy otherwise!  I have already typed
ren scan* xxxx*
and after taking the screen capture, I hit enter.  The "ren" command is an abbreviation for "rename".  The "*" is a wildcard which is shorthand for "every possible string of characters".  This string can be any length when you use the "*" wildcard - using the "?" wildcard would match only strings with a length of one character, "??" would match only strings with a length of two characters, "" would match only strings that are 3 characters long, etc.   After executing this rename command, I type
dir
to get a directory listing showing the new file names and it looks like this.



You need to be careful not to accidentally mess up when you're working with these DOS commands.  If you try renaming the ".." directory, or worse deleting it, who knows what disaster might befall you.  My uncle the computer killer would regularly open up a wormhole to some alternate universe by typing in random stuff that he shouldn't have - he was continually dragging his computer back to the repair shop so they could fix whatever mess he had created ....

Ryan

Thank you so much Ryan for the enormous effort. As you noticed I did manage to wobble through some of the command prompt commands (I've never done anything in my pc's bowels before). Your suggestion about the quotes is worth trying. It's a bit frustrating not knowing the syntax strings that are permissible, as the Help command is somewhat brief.

I shall keep a copy of your screen shot 'opus', as there is a lot of useful stuff to learn.

You never know, I might learn to use my beast properly. I've only owned pc's for about 18 years, so I'm a bit of a novice.

Thanks again old bean.

Hi anping

Take a look at this site: DOS Overview (Windows cmd)

Gives a little overview of the commands available.  

Once in DOS (running the Windows command cmd, type Help and you will get a list of the commands and parameters if any..

Jerry B

In DOS, the only possible location for a period in the filename is to separate the file's name from its extension (the "extension" refers to the code for the type of file you're naming - .JPG for pictures, .TXT for text files, .XLS for Excel spreadsheets, etc etc). The original DOS standards don't allow for periods in the middle of filenames like we can have nowadays, so it's not such a surprise that your filename change doesn't work easily. I say easily, because there's most likely a way around it with further codes, but it probably takes longer to figure out the magic codes than it does to just change those files manually.

Ryan

Hi Anping

Finally, another mainframe person  

DOS commands give one the ability to do "low level" operations.  To do a task, the command(s) can start becoming complicated. 
To do a particular job repeatedly with DOS one can create a "Batch" file with the commands contained.  Execute the Batch file and the commands within are executed.

Jerry B