Deleting a Common Element from Multiple Files

[obsrvr]

Hello,

I would like to delete a common element from a bunch of files in Windows 7, is there a way to that at all?

For example, I have 100 video files and the names of all of them contain "on Youtube" at the end...I would like to get rid of them without actually renaming the files. Also, those files contain some commas and other symbols. I would like to know if Windows in generally as flexible as Excel if you know what I mean. This problem in Excel would have been a piece of cake with a couple of formulas. As for Windows I do not know, but seems to be a challenge at the moment.

In general, I am looking to organize these files by Date, Name, and Topic, and if there is no way to do this task quicker it looks like I am going to have one messy library. Please share your thoughts.

Thanks for help.

 

[BisVal]

For batch renaming and editing multiple files I use xnView . It has more options than the windows explorer.

 

[archer]

hope this helps.

File bathc rename

 

[Bongo]

Welcome to the Seven Forums

Bulk Renamed Utility would be the way to go Download - Bulk Rename Utility

Jerry

 

[obsrvr]

For batch renaming and editing multiple files I use xnView . It has more options than the windows explorer.

Thanks for responses guys, it does not look it will help me achieve what I am asking for. I do not want to rename files, I would like to switch one common element to all files - file names in general should remain the same, except for their structure. In excel, you would do something like this with Find and Replace (from the above example): Find "on Youtube" and Replace with "" (nothing), it would be done. How do I do the same in Windows? Please read carefully what I am asking for.

If I misunderstood your response please tell me exactly where.

Thanks in advance.

 

[archer]

Download "Name It Your Way".


It's free. It's a renaming utility that does exactly what you need. It can rename a thousand files in a few seconds.

 

[Bongo]

With Bulk Renamed Utility you can remove "on Youtube" and Replace with "" (nothing).

Jerry

 

[lehnerus2000]

FreeCommander and MultiCommander

FreeCommander and MultiCommander also have mass renaming tools with "Find and Replace".

FreeCommander's tool

​

 

[MilesAhead]

The Linux "find" command is built to do this type of thing. There are ports of it for Windows. Most likely you would need to use a bash shell (command prompt) because too many Linux patterns would not work in an ordinary Windows command prompt.

One of the most powerful features of the 'find' command is the ability to execute a command on the results. So every item that had "youtube" could be the subject of any command invoked by the exec parameter. Meaning you could invoke any program on the system on the resulting item(s), that you have privilege to use. Very, very powerful.

edit: see example

 

[obsrvr]

Thanks a lot for your responses guys! It looks like I need to dig deeper into the options provided, but all of them are definitely helpful, I just need to learn which one helps best. One thing is clear, playing with the system is not as easy as playing with Excel...

 

[Bongo]

I would recommend that you make a test folder and put some of the videos(copies) in it and then try out some of the programs listed above on that test folder.

Jerry

 

[MilesAhead]

I would recommend that you make a test folder and put some of the videos(copies) in it and then try out some of the programs listed above on that test folder.

Jerry

An excellent suggestion. Especially with Linux commands, the results of pattern match are often a lot more complex than we are used to with Windows wildcards. You can easily submit every file in a partition or directory to some operation if you are not careful.