I recently found myself having to change a files extension from '.txt' to '.cfg'. The program I was using expected a configuration file with a very specific name including the extension. No problem I thought as I launched the Windows Vista file manager and proceeded to right click and select rename. I appended '.cfg' and hit enter. But now I found myself now looking at a file named 'autoexec.cfg.txt' which my program still disliked. I proceeded to spend time looking through menus, both right click and otherwise, without success. Windows Vista was determined to keep the files original extension in spite of my best efforts. Searching Google revealed many sites that offered to walk me through the steps to unlock hidden fields, change folder presentation settings, and some that even offered me programs I could download for this renaming task. Are you kidding me? Download a program to rename a file?
Enter the
command line. What would have been a multiple step clickfest was boiled down to one command:
rename autoexec.cfg.txt autoexec.cfg
I think graphical interfaces and mouse input often make tasks harder than they need be. Sorry mouse, in this case the command line was clearly better.
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