Working with Files and Folders

You can replace the old MultiRen utility, provided by PC Magazine in 1998 (when they were giving readers good freeware utilities) with a feature in the freeware program ExplorerXP. In ExplorerXP, you highlight multiple files and choose Commands > Rename (or just F2). You then choose a mass renaming function (e.g., Trim) and play with it. It doesn't make the changes right away -- it just shows you what it is going to do. It is a significant improvement over MultiRen, never mind the mass-renaming feature provided in Windows XP.

2xExplorer provides a dual-pane interface that appears similar to the dual-pane interface in the old PowerDesk 98 Utilities. The program's filtering tool, icons, and other features also appear to provide a welcome resurrection of some PowerDesk capabilities, in a form that works in WinXP.