File renaming seems to have gone through a bit of a resurgence lately. This is driven by the increasing popularity of digital cameras and digital music recording, which has resulted in large numbers of files which are often given cryptic names by the software.
In the DOS days before Windows we were able to do simple bulk file renaming with a single rename command and filename wildcards.
In Windows, we were forced to do our renaming in Windows Explorer one filename at a time, which is OK for a few files, but for large numbers of files is tedious and slow. We need a product that will allow us to rename large numbers of files at once, following naming rules we can define.
If you want industrial strength file renaming there are several great choices:
First, there's Lupas Rename 2000 [1]. This is a small utility
for Win 95 and later that globally renames all the files in a directory
and its subdirectories. It can convert names to upper/lower case,
change the case of the first letter, add text, left crop, right crop and
just about anything else you can think of. And, unlike DOS based
utilities, it will work on hidden files as well. Add in a nice GUI interface,
an undo feature, full preview of changes, MP3 tag renaming, support for
regular expressions, and the fact that it's free and you have an
outstanding product. It is a single .EXE (848 KB) file which needs no
external libraries, so it can be run as a portable product.
The second and equally attractive option is Flexible Renamer [2]. It's
quite similar to Lupas and choosing between them is not easy. Lupas
seems to me to be easier to use for simply renaming files while Flexible
Renamer has the edge with MP3 tags. Flexible Renamer can also bulk
change file attributes while Lupas can't. It also runs without
installation, a definite plus.
A third choice is Bulk Rename Utility [3]. It's a bit like Lupas Rename and
Flexible Renamer rolled into one product. That means more power but at the
cost of greater complexity and a steeper learning curve. Indeed the
option-laden opening screen would scare the pants off average users.
However it is the bulk re-namer product I like most and many power users
would I suspect, agree. However if you only need a re-namer for
re-labeling digital photos and MP3 files you might like instead to looked at a
program [4] called "THE Rename" (sic). that's better suited to these
tasks. It's freeware and works on all versions of Windows though usage is
not very intuitive. There is also a command-line version available.
[1] Lupas Rename 2000
Website: http://www.azheavymetal.com/~lupasrename/lupasrename.php
License: Freeware
Download Filesize: 535 KB zip 734 KB setup.exe
Windows Operating Systems Supported: Win95, Win98, WinME, WinNT, Win2K
and WinXP
Non-Windows Operating Systems Supported: None
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: Yes, normal version is portable
Additional Software Required: None
[2] Flexible Renamer
Website: http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA014830/english/FlexRena/
License: Freeware
Download Filesize: 648 KB
Windows Operating Systems Supported: all Windows versions
Non-Windows Operating Systems Supported: None
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: No
Additional Software Required: None
[3] Bulk Rename Utility
Website: http://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/Main_Intro.php
License: Freeware
Download Filesize: 813 KB
Windows Operating Systems Supported: Windows 98SE and later
Non-Windows Operating Systems Supported: None
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable Version Available: Yes
Additional Software Required: None
[4] "THE Rename"
Website:
http://www.herve-thouzard.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=1
License: Freeware
Download Filesize: 2.98 MB
Windows Operating Systems Supported: all Windows versions
Non-Windows Operating Systems Supported: None
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: No
Additional Software Required: None