Renaming Files - Weird Situation: This is for Windows. If you take a list of files and name them all Billy, they will become Billy (0), Billy (1), Billy (2), etc. I had groups of files...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

This is for Windows. If you take a list of files and name them all Billy, they will become Billy (0), Billy (1), Billy (2), etc. I had groups of files like that, and I wanted to rename them in order, Billy (0), Billy (1), Billy (2), after sorting them by date. Easier said than done.

Occasionally, it would work, but not usually. Rather than start at the top and run down, the numbering would continue where the previous numbering left off. So, if I had 1 - 25, the new list would be 1, 26, 27, etc.
I tried making a change in the name, and sometimes that would work. However, the only reliable way to make the changes was to first name all the files anything - gibberish (aklfdjlaksjd) - and then rename them with a real name. Even that would not always work, but it worked better than any other system I tried.

As I said, it's a weird situation.

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Hope this helps -
How to Batch Rename Files in Windows: 4 Ways to Rename Multiple Files
http://www.howtogeek.com/111859/how-to-batch-rename-files-in-windows-4-ways-to-rename-multiple-files

Swamp-Cork Loc: Lanexa, Virginia

I just subscribed to Lightroom 5 and Photo shop and I'm fighting just to save my files!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Funny, but the response I posted last night on my iPad didn't show up. Oh, well.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

St3v3M wrote:

Hope this helps -
How to Batch Rename Files in Windows: 4 Ways to Rename Multiple Files
http://www.howtogeek.com/111859/how-to-batch-rename-files-in-windows-4-ways-to-rename-multiple-files

St3ve andf nakkh - I used the system shown on the Geek site, but that's not the problem. After you get all those "vacation (1).png" and reorder them by date and then try to rename them, you run into a problem.

I gave all my files the same name, since they were all on the same topic. Then I wanted to sort by date and time. That's where it got tricky, and I had to make several attempts to rename them so they would be numbered in order and listed by time.

This isn't a major problem since I found a workaround, but I thought it was odd the way the renaming feature worked at times.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

nakkh wrote:

http://www.howtogeek.com/111859/how-to-batch-rename-files-in-windows-4-ways-to-rename-multiple-files/

There is a utility for doing this.
http://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/Main_Intro.php
http://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/Download.php

I downloaded the bulk renaming utility, so maybe I'll take one of those lists of files and play around with them.

Florida2117 Loc: Melbourne, FL

When you rename the files in the File Explorer, they get renamed in the order that they appear in the drives File Pointer Directory. Sorting just changes the order they appear in the File Explorer.

stbg1951 Loc: Lewes, DE

I use a free product File Renamer. It will let you insert key words from file properties. So you could add a date timestamp down to the seconds.

Florida2117 Loc: Melbourne, FL

I use the Pro version of it and it's great! I use the File Explorer only if I have to rename a single file. All other times I use File Renamer Pro.

Rancher38 Loc: Halfway, OR

Can I confuse the issue even more: I have, say 100, pics in media storage order, but want to display the contents (e.g. Chrome cast) in a different order by clicking through, or "auto run". Other than placing in Powerpoint haven't figured out how to reorder the file -- any help?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Rancher38 wrote:

Can I confuse the issue even more: I have, say 100, pics in media storage order, but want to display the contents (e.g. Chrome cast) in a different order by clicking through, or "auto run". Other than placing in Powerpoint haven't figured out how to reorder the file -- any help?

I open the folder and click on "Details" to show the date and time. Then I click on the Date to get them in order. I just did a few more folders, and I wasn't always able to name the files the way I wanted. If I had 100 files, the list would be 1, 100, 2, 101, etc. Crazy

demyhr

I use a free file manager program called FreeCommander -

http://freecommander.com/en/downloads/

It has excellent multi renaming capability.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

demyhr wrote:

I use a free file manager program called FreeCommander -

http://freecommander.com/en/downloads/

It has excellent multi renaming capability.

Thanks. I'll add this to my list.

tradergeorge Loc: Newport, Kentucky

jerryc41 wrote:

I open the folder and click on "Details" to show the date and time. Then I click on the Date to get them in order. I just did a few more folders, and I wasn't always able to name the files the way I wanted. If I had 100 files, the list would be 1, 100, 2, 101, etc. Crazy

I have not delved deeply into Windows file system naming, but I do know a lot about databases. The reason you are getting the 1, 100, 2, etc...is because you are doing a text sort. This is completely logical to the computer and reflects where the first character falls in the ASCII character set....You might get better results if instead of using numbers, you use letters. Windows will do a lot better at arranging them...Like a few others have pointed out, there are some people who have already done the heavy lifting on this issue and written apps or utilities to overcome this...

I just read this thread and had to chuckle at the fact that what you think is a quirk in windows is actually your non-linear way of thinking and how we have all been taught to think...Remember, a computer has no choice but to be logical. I sometimes forget this when trying to convince the PC to do something I want it to do, but it stubbornly refuses....LOL....;-)

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

tradergeorge wrote:

I have not delved deeply into Windows file system ... (show quote)

I'm trying to figure out what logic the computer is using. I want to know what rules the computer is using so I can follow those rules in the future. Let me summarize.

I begin with files with different names.
I highlight all the files and rename them House. That causes the computer to name them House (0), House (1), etc. So far, so good.
When I sort those files by date, it is very difficult to name them House again. Sometimes, I can delete a few letters and re-enter them, and it will work, but usually not.
I found that if I enter something totally different, even gibberish, that will work. Then I can probably name them House again.
So, what I am looking for is the procedure to use when renaming files that have already been renamed.