File-renaming tools save time and effort

It’s funny how the smallest chores can sometimes be the biggest pains in the neck. Case in point: renaming files and folders. It’s an easy thing to do but an even easier task to put off. The longer you let it go, the more difficult it becomes to get straight. Specialized software to the rescue.

File- and folder-renaming utilities are plentiful in the PC world. The majority of them are completely free, though there are many commercial and shareware products available. Let’s face it: We’re not dealing with rocket science here. Changing the name of a file or folder ranks among the most basic computer skills. In Windows, you simply click once to highlight the name and then click again to edit the name.

The manual method is fine when you’re only dealing with a handful of files. This molehill quickly turns into a mountain when you’re faced with dozens, hundreds or even thousands of files. Renaming this many files individually is not only a waste of your time; it might even rob you of your sanity. What’s needed is a bulk file-renaming tool.

First, a few words of caution about file-renaming. Be careful not to change the file extension; otherwise, you can render a file unusable. Another basic concept about file renaming is that merely changing the extension doesn’t change the type of file. For example, renaming a “.doc” file to “.pdf” doesn’t make it a real PDF. For this, you need a file-conversion tool, but that’s another story.

File-renaming tools are nice because they save time and are highly functional. Beyond bulk renaming, the best ones feature advanced file-sorting, pinpoint search and replace, freeform editing, sequential numbering and the ability to remove and insert characters based on user-defined parameters. All of these options come in handy when you’re dealing with hundreds of arbitrarily named photo files downloaded from a digital camera or anonymous music files ripped from CDs.

A good place to start is File Renamer Basic from Sherrod Computers, a powerful free utility available at www.sherrodcomputers.com. Compared to many of its competitors, this one has a short learning curve, thanks in large part to its thoughtfully designed user interface. The main screen has a directory tree on the left and a large file display to the right. Below this is a series of tabs containing different types of renaming tools.

Nice features include the ability to preview changes before applying them, which takes on added importance because the undo button is disabled in the free version. You also can create and save special profiles for common renaming tasks, saving setup time while ensuring consistency. The program also has limited support for file-renaming based on photo EXIF tags and MP3 ID3 v1 and v2 tags.

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