I have these files in a folder:
aaa.txt
bbb.txt
ccc.txt
I want to prepend all the filenames with 1_, so I try to write this in a Windows command prompt:
rename * 1_*
Doing so I want to get this result:
1_aaa.txt
1_bbb.txt
1_ccc.txt
But instead i get this:
1_a.txt
1_b.txt
1_c.txt
Instead of prepending it is just overwriting the names from the start. According to this (https://www.computerhope.com/renamehl.htm) article that is indeed the intended behavior.
But in this (https://www.windowscentral.com/how-rename-multiple-files-bulk-windows-10) article they show an example where they are increasing the length of the first part of the filename like this:
ren nyc_*.* newYork_*.*
So that seems to be similar to what I want to do, but when I try that exact example it does not work like that. Again, it just overwrites the first part the name without adding anything, and then I end up with nyc_(1).jpg becoming newYork_.jpg (the unique number is overwritten).
Is the second article plain wrong? How do I simply prepend something to a bunch of files with a batch line?
One method is to knock up a temporary batch file to do your renaming. First, dump your directory to a text file with formatting turned off:
dir *.txt /B > list.bat
Open it in Notepad and then copy that bare listing into the likes of Excel (or if you have a text editor with powerful features you can use it.) You can then create a formula, like:
="rename " & A1 & " 1_" & A1
Which will build you a list of individual rename commands changing each file one at a time, like this:
A B
aaa.txt rename aaa.txt 1_aaa.txt
bbb.txt rename bbb.txt 1_bbb.txt
ccc.txt rename ccc.txt 1_ccc.txt
Copy that new column back into notepad and save it. Run and discard your new batchfile and everything will be renamed over.
For your nyc to NewYork, you need a bit more work...
="rename " & A1 & " NewYork" & MID(A1,4,99)
...will strip the left three characters from the name replace them to give you:
rename nyc_(1).jpg NewYork_(1).jpg