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December 7th, 2003 21:00
Rename Series of Files, selected files only
The help file "windows_rename_series_files.htm" describes a a couple of sets of steps for renaming selected files, seriatim, but the instructions must be incomplete, or this functionality must be nonoperative. (The Dell telephone tech support person, presumably residing in India, tried the instructions and failed as well as myself and my partner, both sophisticated computer users.) We can select a collection of files,resulting in the names being highlighted. We can then choose the "rename" function, either by right click on the first filename or File menu pulldown. As soon as we do this, the other filenames are deselected, and only the first filename is changed. Therefore, we cannot change a series of filename, in spite of a Windows help file that purports to empower us to do this very thing.
Yes, we could go to a DOS-type command prompt, as suggested by a reply to a query in this forum on a similar-sounding subject, but this would not be selective, and it would not rename the files seriatim. (E.g., Birthday(1), Birthday(2), etc.
What must be done to rename a series of selected files?
Denny Denham
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December 7th, 2003 22:00
I had never tried this, but I gave it a go. I selected three files (by clicking them while holding down the Ctrl key. I then went to File|Rename. The first two file lost their blue highlight (but retained a gray highlight over their names). I entered a new name post.gif and the three files were renamed post, post(1), and post(2), with the last file being named post. The procedure works, but it names the last post selected with the first name in the "alphabetic" order.
high meadow hik
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December 8th, 2003 03:00
If you had some success, then you must have done something differently than I have done. Selecting and highlighting certain files is no problem.
The files I need to rename have the common "extension" JPG. In my previous attempt to follow the procedure, I had not tried to change or rekey in the "extension" .jpg Hoping that this was the trick, I this time rekeyed in .jpg Still, only the filename space that I used for keying was changed, and the other files left untouched.
Given that you were successful, there must be some micromove, some tiny, tiny step that you performed that did the trick. If I were videorecording your actions, and transcribing every tiny step, what would I be recording?
Please start the baby steps after the files are selected and highlighted. Do you use the file pulldown or the right click? If the latter, which filename do you rightclick on? If the file pulldown menu "rename" then where do you start keying in the new name? Maybe that is the crux; you are keying into some space other than the highlighted filename.
My failure is the same whether the files are represented by thumbnail images or a list of filenames.
Perhaps a complication is that the filenames are constructively in a DVD drive "buffer" (on a hard drive) for later burning to a physical optical disk.