How to write a simple Batch Job to rename large groups of files. Windows XP and Windows 7.

Here's my nifty trick. This will probably be the most useful post on this site.
Seriously, I am letting you in on trade secrets here, so listen up.
This is a clever trick. No messin'. You gonna love this one, kiddies.

Say you have a whole lot of, oh, JPGs, you know, full of propriety knowledge.
Or maybe some 'flv' or 'mp3' videos you treasure. You wanna keep them safe.
You wanna hide these files from anyone else messing with you computer.

Cut and paste them all to some secret folder, say in a sub-folder of Windows or a game like Half Life 2. Anywhere really.

Write yourself two batch jobs...
One to rename them to hide them and one to rename them to expose them.

Here's how.
Right click in that same folder and make two text files. They must be in that same folder.



Call them something not too obvious, not like mine. Maybe 'rn g to b.txt'. (rename good to bad)
Type in each exactly what I have typed. You can copy and post this below if you like.



in one text file
rename *.mp4 *.ttl


in the other text file
rename *.ttl *.mp4


Then rename those as the file extension '.bat' which is a Windows Batch Job.
If you need to change these batch jobs, right click on them and edit with Notepad.



You old crusty jugglers who started off hacking your computer with DOS will know those commands.
The 'rename' command renames whatever you want.
The * means all. So this batch job will rename all files of file extension 'mp4' to the random 'ttl'.

This tiny one line batch job will rename every file with extension mp4 to same file name but with extension ttl - a random picked extension, which makes the files unrecognizable and hence unsearchable.

Here's the pic - batch job has run.


Running the other batch job renames them as mp4 videos.



You can rename a hundred JPG files with a one line batch job and keep them safe from a search from curious hackers or mates or mothers or girlfriends ...

Do you realize the significance of this ?!

Incidentally you can also rename all those file names (not extensions) in one go, especially if they have naughty names.
Type CTRL-A or just drag and highlight them all.



Then right click on just one file and rename that one.



All the others will then be renamed to 'same name(1)' and 'same name(2)' etc as shown.



Renamed.



It would be wise to rename these secret naughty files as 'systemfile' or 'windowsdata' or something similarly arcane.

Also see yesterday's lesson on how to hide your personal files.
Your secret files are all safe now. Who's your daddy ?!

Your secrets are safe with me. Cheers. Si.
Checked for relevance April 2014. Still the best trick out there.

How to hide your personal files, pictures, JPGs, WORD documents etc. Windows XP and Windows 7.

Here's one of my secrets. This is how I hide my files if needed.

One way is to simply mark them as 'hidden'.
First, put that file or folder in a place where you won't lose it. Cut and paste it into some secret place.
First make sure that you have elected 'do not show hidden files and folders'.
Go to 'My Documents", select Tools>Folder Options >View>Do not show hidden files and folders



then ... Folder Options >View>do not show hidden files and folders



Then, right click on that file or folder and select Properties, and mark Attributes as hidden.



See ? Gone. Not deleted, just 'hidden'.



until you show all hidden files here at ...
Tools>Folder Options >View>Show hidden files and folders

Hidden to the average user, but not to some hacker.
That's lesson one.

Another way is to rename that file.
Say I have my stupidly stored my passwords in a text file called 'passwords.txt'



Incidentally text files are very useful as they will not store fonts or formats, just plain text.

To rename it completely I right click on the file and select 'rename' and change it to 'systemfile.ggg". You will see a pop up message about changing attributes, but click OK.



Click OK



The result is an unrecognizable, unreadable and unsearchable file.



Firstly, "password" has gone, so anyone doing a search of your computer will not find this keyword. 'systemfile' is a wonderful general file name to call something you want to hide.

Secondly, this is now an unrecognizable 'file extension', so will also not show up on any searches.
See FileExt.com for info on file extensions.   http://filext.com/

To read you file, rename it back to a legitimate file extension of 'systemfile.txt'

Clever boys and girls. Go practice that one.

You can rename a large group of similar files using a very simple batch job, but that's tomorrow's lesson.

Helping you hide your secrets. Cheers. Si.
Checked and relevant. Apil 2014

Genuine Free Tip - Microsoft Virtual PC

Woo Hoo. This is cool.
Big thanks to Cory down at Infinity Computer for showing me this one.

Microsoft Virtual PC.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24439
"Save time and money as Virtual PC allows you to maintain the compatibility of legacy and custom applications during migration to new operating systems and increases the efficiency of support, development, and training staffs.

With Microsoft® Virtual PC 2007, you can create and run one or more virtual machines, each with its own operating system, on a single computer. This provides you with the flexibility to use different operating systems on one physical computer. "



If you need to create a virtual machine to run a different operating system such as an earlier version of Windows, this is the way to do it. Create a Virtual PC and set all the conditions you want. I use this to play old games like Duke Nukem 3D.
Cheers. Si.
Checked April 2014 for link and relevance. Still valid for Windows XP 

Genuine Free Tip - Partition Logic

This is a very handy program for partitioning you hard drive.

Partition Logic.
http://partitionlogic.org.uk/about/index.php

It's a good idea to partition your hard drive on your PC.
Make the C drive for all your programs, and then pick an arbitrary letter, say the Q drive (Get Smart agent Q) for all of My Documents. Then when you Backup Your PC NOW, you can back up just the drive that you want to. This will save you space and time.
Now say you have just bought yourself a nice brand spanking new PC, but didn't think to partition your hard drive, then grab yourself Partition Logic to do the job.

It's free too. Get some.
Cheers. Si.
Checked April 2014 for link and relevance.

ZMatrix - Matrix scrolling wallpaper.

I love this one. This is the coolest piece of free software.

ZMatrix. Background scrolling wallpaper AND screen saver
http://zmatrix.sourceforge.net/index.html#Download

ZMatrix is an animated desktop background which displays streaming characters in a style similar to what was used in the movie 'The Matrix'.

This is dead cool. Here it is running on my computer


Here's my settings. I like it just like this.
Note that this is for background scrolling wallpaper.

Use Monotonous clean up, otherwise the screen just fills up completely.

Also use Random Cleanup to put little gaps in the code.

That will look nifty.

Cheers.Si.
Checked April 2014 for link and relevance. - still the best wallpaper. It works very nicely on my Windows XP box, but I haven't tried it on my Windows 7 box.