Which command can I use to recursively rename or move a file in Windows?
Solution 1:
Use XP's for
command. For example from the command line (in a batch file use %%x
instead) to do a recursive move do:
for /r %x in (foo) do move "%x" "drive:\path\bar"
To do a recursive rename do:
for /r %x in (*.c) do ren "%x" *.cpp
Example batch:
for /r "< DIR >" %%x in (*.c) do ren "%%x" *.cpp
Solution 2:
robocopy "C:\Source Folder" "C:\Destination Folder" /E /COPYALL /XJ
Description of parameters:
/E - copy subdirectories, including Empty ones (/S to exclude empty ones)
/COPYALL - COPY ALL file info (equivalent to /COPY:DATSOU)
/XJ - eXclude Junction points and symbolic links. (normally included by default).
Solution 3:
I just run a small example in my Windows XP SP2 box with the move command and it worked. All files and directories were moved from source to dest. source and dest are directory names.
move source dest
ver Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
move /? Moves files and renames files and directories. To move one or more files: MOVE [/Y | /-Y] [drive:][path]filename1[,...] destination To rename a directory: MOVE [/Y | /-Y] [drive:][path]dirname1 dirname2 [drive:][path]filename1 Specifies the location and name of the file or files you want to move. destination Specifies the new location of the file. Destination can consist of a drive letter and colon, a directory name, or a combination. If you are moving only one file, you can also include a filename if you want to rename the file when you move it. [drive:][path]dirname1 Specifies the directory you want to rename. dirname2 Specifies the new name of the directory. /Y Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an existing destination file. /-Y Causes prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an existing destination file. The switch /Y may be present in the COPYCMD environment variable. This may be overridden with /-Y on the command line. Default is to prompt on overwrites unless MOVE command is being executed from within a batch script.