Rename file from command line [CMD]
We can use the command rename to rename files from windows command prompt(CMD). Find below syntax of the command with examples.
Syntax of rename command:
After executing the above command we’ll have file2.doc in the folder d:\data
Ren is alias for rename , so both refer to the same command.
Errors:
- If the files is being used by a program, then rename command fails with below error.
- You also need to have sufficient privileges to rename the file.
- Rename changes just the file name, it does not convert a file from one type to another. For example, if you rename a file from mp4 to mp3 extension, it does not change the file format. Renaming a doc file ‘mydocument.docx’ to ‘mydocument.pdf’ does not make the file readable in Acrobat Reader.
Does the command have to be executed in the root directory, or can it be done in a subdirectory that is in the root directory? Also, can a directory be renamed (EXAMPLE: renaming Dell.dir to Newname.dir)?
yes, you can run the command (for that matter, any other windows command) from any folder, it need not be root folder. And yes, ren works for directories too. There’s a separate post for this – http://www.windows-commandline.com/rename-directory-from-command-line/
this command gives repeating of filename when there are more then 40 files in the folders ?
any solution for renaming 100s of file .
i have
4299999940_M_harsha.png these type of files in several sub folders, with similar name structure(42 as first part of name, 40_M_harsha as last part of name.. in between 6digits(which may contain 42 and 40 also.in this example it has 999999))
i have to rename it as 99999..i.e, remove first and last part of file name which is common for all files in the subfolder
another examples:
4292345640_M_harsha.png -> 923456
4291424040_M_harsha.png -> 914240
could u please help
how do I rename a file by keeping the last 20 characters. I have random file names however the last 20 characters are what I want to keep. They are dates and a document ID.
filename too long cannot rename Please now setup new rename
I use, Batch Rename Files Tool. You can easily found hier BatchRenameFiles.org that allows you to quickly rename all the files in a specified directory.
Simple stuff. Been there and done that but I have a mess of files that contain a “%20” or several in the filename. I need help to sort this out. My REXX program has produced a batch file containing lines like these:
1.JPG” corn_escaLator.jpg
ren “CHOCO%
1.JPG” choco_Lady.jpg
ren “CAT%20
4.JPG” cat_wet_getting_bathed.jpg
ren “CAT%20
3.JPG” cat_burrito.jpg
ren “CAT%20
2.JPG” cat_bra.jpg
ren “CAT%20
1.JPG” cat_bite_nose.jpg
ren “BOOTY%
1.JPG” booty_cake.jpg
ren “BIRD%2
2.JPG” bird_watersLide.jpg
ren “BIRD%2
1.JPG” bird_mouth_dog.jpg
ren “BIG%20
1.JPG” big_mac.jpg
ren “BANK%2
1.JPG” bank_cake.jpg
ren “ANGEL%
Suffice to say it isn’t working as intended. I get tons of
“The system cannot find the file specified.” messages.
I prefer not to use the powershell whether I have it or not in case I need to run this in a more primitive Windows. I have tried rename instead of ren and without double quotes. I have administrator privileges.
I am running Windows7 32-bit.
GOOD, IT WORKED FOR ME
I use windows 10, and I did the steps, even in the location but it ‘couldn’t find the file specified.’ Please help.
FILE_RENAME_INFORMATION structure (ntifs.h)
The FILE_RENAME_INFORMATION structure is used to rename a file.
Syntax
Members
Set to TRUE to specify that if a file with the given name already exists, it should be replaced with the given file. Set to FALSE if the rename operation should fail if a file with the given name already exists.
Flags for the rename operation. This field is only applicable when used with the FileRenameInformationEx information class.
Here are the possible values:
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| FILE_RENAME_REPLACE_IF_EXISTS 0x00000001 | If a file with the given name already exists, it should be replaced with the given file. Equivalent to the ReplaceIfExists field used with the FileRenameInformation information class. |
| FILE_RENAME_POSIX_SEMANTICS 0x00000002 | If FILE_RENAME_REPLACE_IF_EXISTS is also specified, allow replacing a file even if there are existing handles to it. Existing handles to the replaced file continue to be valid for operations such as read and write. Any subsequent opens of the target name will open the renamed file, not the replaced file. |
| FILE_RENAME_SUPPRESS_PIN_STATE_INHERITANCE 0x00000004 | When renaming a file to a new directory, suppress any inheritance rules related to the FILE_ATTRIBUTE_PINNED and FILE_ATTRIBUTE_UNPINNED attributes of the file. |
| FILE_RENAME_SUPPRESS_STORAGE_RESERVE_INHERITANCE 0x00000008 | When renaming a file to a new directory, suppress any inheritance rules related to the storage reserve ID property of the file. |
| FILE_RENAME_NO_INCREASE_AVAILABLE_SPACE 0x00000010 | If FILE_RENAME_SUPPRESS_STORAGE_RESERVE_INHERITANCE is not also specified, when renaming a file to a new directory, automatically resize affected storage reserve areas as needed to prevent the user visible free space on the volume from increasing. Requires manage volume access. |
| FILE_RENAME_NO_DECREASE_AVAILABLE_SPACE 0x00000020 | If FILE_RENAME_SUPPRESS_STORAGE_RESERVE_INHERITANCE is not also specified, when renaming a file to a new directory, automatically resize affected storage reserve areas as needed to prevent the user visible free space on the volume from decreasing. Requires manage volume access. |
| FILE_RENAME_PRESERVE_AVAILABLE_SPACE 0x00000030 | Equivalent to specifying both FILE_RENAME_NO_INCREASE_AVAILABLE_SPACE and FILE_RENAME_NO_DECREASE_AVAILABLE_SPACE. |
| FILE_RENAME_IGNORE_READONLY_ATTRIBUTE 0x00000040 | If FILE_RENAME_REPLACE_IF_EXISTS is also specified, allow replacing a file even if it is read-only. Requires WRITE_ATTRIBUTES access to the replaced file. |
| FILE_RENAME_FORCE_RESIZE_TARGET_SR 0x00000080 | If FILE_RENAME_SUPPRESS_STORAGE_RESERVE_INHERITANCE is not also specified, when renaming a file to a new directory that is part of a different storage reserve area, always grow the target directory’s storage reserve area by the full size of the file being renamed. Requires manage volume access. |
| FILE_RENAME_FORCE_RESIZE_SOURCE_SR 0x00000100 | If FILE_RENAME_SUPPRESS_STORAGE_RESERVE_INHERITANCE is not also specified, when renaming a file to a new directory that is part of a different storage reserve area, always shrink the source directory’s storage reserve area by the full size of the file being renamed. Requires manage volume access. |
| FILE_RENAME_FORCE_RESIZE_SR 0x00000180 | Equivalent to specifying both FILE_RENAME_FORCE_RESIZE_TARGET_SR and FILE_RENAME_FORCE_RESIZE_SOURCE_SR. |
A handle that IopOpenLinkOrRenameTarget uses to open the target directory.
If the file is not being moved to a different directory, or if the FileName member contains the full pathname, this member is NULL. Otherwise, it is a handle for the root directory under which the file will reside after it is renamed.
To perform two open operations that won’t cause a sharing conflict, you can open RootDirectory by requesting traverse | read-attribute. IopOpenLinkOrRenameTarget can then perform a relative open by requesting FILE_WRITE_DATA | SYNCHRONIZE. These two opens would not cause sharing conflict.
Length, in bytes, of the new name for the file.
The first character of a wide-character string containing the new name for the file. This is followed in memory by the remainder of the string. If the RootDirectory member is NULL, and the file is being moved to a different directory, this member specifies the full pathname to be assigned to the file. Otherwise, it specifies only the file name or a relative pathname.
Remarks
The FILE_RENAME_INFORMATION structure is used to rename a file. This operation can be performed in either of the following ways:
- Call FltSetInformationFile or ZwSetInformationFile, passing FileRenameInformation as the value of FileInformationClass and passing a caller-allocated buffer formatted as a FILE_RENAME_INFORMATION structure for the value of FileInformation. The FileHandle parameter specifies the file to be renamed.
- Create an IRP with major function code IRP_MJ_SET_INFORMATION.
File system minifilters must use FltSetInformationFile, not ZwSetInformationFile, to rename a file.
Renaming a file requires DELETE access to the file so that the directory entry may be removed from the current parent directory, as well as the appropriate access to create the new entry in the new parent directory file.
The file name string in the FileName member must be specified in one of the following forms.
- A simple file name. (The RootDirectory member is NULL.) In this case, the file is simply renamed within the same directory. That is, the rename operation changes the name of the file but not its location.
- A fully qualified file name. (The RootDirectory member is NULL.) In this case, the rename operation changes the name and location of the file.
- A relative file name. In this case, the RootDirectory member contains a handle to the target directory for the rename operation. The file name itself must be a simple file name.
General rules for rename operations:
- A file or directory can only be renamed within a volume. In other words, a rename operation cannot cause a file or directory to be moved to a different volume.
- A volume’s root directory cannot be renamed.
- If ReplaceIfExists is set to FALSE, and the target exists, the rename operation will fail.
- Even if ReplaceIfExists is set to TRUE, the rename operation will still fail if a file with the same name already exists and is a directory, a read-only file, or a currently executing file.
- A volume’s files and directories cannot be renamed if the volume is a read-only volume, such as a CDFS volume or a read-only NTFS volume.
Special rules for renaming open files:
- A file cannot be renamed if it has any open handles, unless it is only open because of a batch opportunistic lock (oplock) and the batch oplock can be broken immediately.
- A file cannot be renamed if a file with the same name exists and has open handles (except in the batch-oplock case described earlier).
- A directory cannot be renamed if it or any of its subdirectories contains a file that has open handles (except in the batch-oplock case described earlier).
Special rules for renaming NTFS data streams:
- The source handle cannot be opened with FILE_DIRECTORY_FILE.
- The source handle cannot be a directory opened without either FILE_DIRECTORY_FILE or FILE_NON_DIRECTORY_FILE.
- The new name for the stream must begin with a colon (:).
- A data stream can only be renamed within a file. In other words, a rename operation cannot cause a data stream to be moved to a different file.
- A stream on a directory cannot be renamed to the default data stream.
- If ReplaceIfExists is set to TRUE, the rename operation will succeed only if a stream with the same name exists and is a zero-length data stream.
- «Renaming» the default data stream is allowed, but this is not a true rename, because it leaves behind a zero-length default data stream.
The size of the FileInformation buffer passed to ZwSetInformationFile or FltSetInformationFile must be >= sizeof(FILE_RENAME_INFORMATION) plus the size in bytes of the FileName string.
C++ Rename File @ C:\Windows\System32\Drivers
SOLVED: have a look on the later posts
TASK: rename a file called TabletFilter.sys ( its my graphic tablet driver ) because windows 8 (my OS) apps needs an other driver then photoshop for the pin pressure. And I want to write a c++ program that just rename all driver files to .old
The code based on the rename example from cplusplus.com
I tried «run as Admin» as well, but I still get
The file is definitly in the same folder . i copyed them both there. even at c:\windows\ i tryed it . and i use a manifest
i tryed uiAccess true and false.
Yes I have a problem with the rights The driver is loaded but iam still able to change his name . dont know why, but its possbile. I tryed it. I want to solve this problem with c++ so pls dont tell me that there are many script languages out there that can handle the problem very well 😉 I know this
3 Answers 3
The error message
Means that the current directory does not contain files names «TabletFilter.sys» or «TabletFilter.sys.old» .
What you can do is either:
- Specify the full path to the file.
- Ensure that the current directory, when your code executes, is the directory that contains your file.
However, even when you do this, your program may very well fail. You may not have sufficient rights to modify the contents of that folder. And the file you are trying to rename may well be locked if the OS has loaded the driver.
And as @Hans points out, the file system redirector could very well be confounding matters for you. The best way to avoid that is to us a 64 bit process.
I see no reason for using a C++ program here. Renaming files is a task best suited to a scripting language.
Access Denied Renaming a File in Windows/system32/drivers/
I need to rename a Malwarebytes file in order to update the version, but I cannot because of this error. Although I am the ONLY user and therefore administrator of this laptop. I right clicked on c:\windows and properties to verify I have Full access under my logon name too.
File Access Denied
You need permission to perform this action
You require permission from Administrators to make changes to this file.
Date created: 1/19/2017 9:21 pm
Try Again or Cancel
Replies (7)
We suggest checking the article below and follow the instructions provided to resolve issues on renaming a file.
Also applies to Windows 10
Let us know how it goes.
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Why are you needing to rename Malwarebytes to update it ?
If the program is running while trying to rename the driver this could prevent you
from changing the name ( normally a suitable error message would show, but not always)
Did you click on Continue when the message pops up (worked for me) ?
The normal procedure with AV’s would be for the program to do an in place update (I also updated the
data base just now with no problem). If that is not happening, uninstalling and reinstalling would be
the most common alternative.
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Malware tech support said to rename the driver so that their updated version would go on.
There is no option to continue.
I agree, the Malware program should overlay the original version files, but it did not because of my original post and message that my local logon which is an Admin id does not have proper access.
So I am still trying to figure out why my id(I am only one that uses this PC and I opened it from new) does not have all the Admin access it needs.
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It may be because of who is assigned «Ownership» of the file.
Or that you are not included in the list of Users that can access\modify it.
Click the Security tab and see if you are there, and what you permissions are.
You may need to «Take Ownership» of the file under the «Advanced» at the bottom of the Security tab..
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I agree with everything that has been said here, you should not have to rename a file in System32 to be able to upgrade MalwareBytes. With that said, if you want to rename the file, you will have to take ownership of the file, it can be a tricky thing to do sometimes.
Click HERE to download a reg file from my DropBox Account, double click it and select Yes to merge it with your registry. This reg file will install ‘Take Ownership’ onto your right click menu and take the bother out of taking ownership of files.
So all you will have to do is right click the file and select ‘Take ownership’ a dos window will open and the process will be automated. Once the process finishes you will be able to rename the file
One warning though, be careful which files you take ownership of . . .
I Hope this Helps!
Power to the Developer!
MSI GV72 — 17.3″, i7-8750H (Hex Core), 32GB DDR4, 4GB GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, 256GB NVMe M2, 2TB HDD
