![]() This means you can use it to build complex search equations that precisely match specific criteria. ![]() Regex takes this idea much further, with a wide range of operators to differentiate between letters, numbers and special characters, as well as specifying things such as maximum string lengths. You probably already know that the asterisk character, when used in a search term, matches everything – so searching for *.png will return all files with the appropriate extension. Regular expressions are a sophisticated system of wildcards. Thankfully, that’s not necessary as PowerRename also supports regular expressions, better known as “regex”. Let’s suppose we want to change the day as well as the month: if you just used the Search and Replace fields, you’d need to run the process 31 times to catch all the different dates. That’s a powerful capability on its own, but it’s just the start of PowerRename’s potential. And to reassure you that you’ve entered the right terms, PowerRename includes a terrifically helpful Preview pane, so you can see exactly what the effect of your input will be before you hit the Rename button. Just as if you were using the find and replace function in a word processor, the rest of each filename is left the same. Using regular expressions allows you to target files by matching attributes within their names To use it, you simply navigate to the folder that contains the files you want to rename, select the ones you want to work with, then right-click and select PowerRename from the context menu. PowerRename combines the efficiency of batch processing with a user-friendly front-end. The Command Prompt is much faster, letting you rename multiple files with a single command, but the syntax can be complex, and getting it wrong could have frustrating consequences. Using the Windows File Explorer to rename a folder full of files means clicking and typing a new name for each one in turn – a slow and tiresome process. The idea is to have a full-width word processor and a smaller browser window for reference, but if the mood takes us we’re free to switch them around – or to use a completely different pair of programs, such as Excel in the smaller window and Mahjong in the larger. As you can see from the screengrab to the left, our custom grid comprises a large window to the left and a smaller window to the right. If the default FancyZones layouts don’t suit you, create your ownįinally, click “Save and apply”, and try Shift-dragging your windows around the screen again. ![]() Nor do your zones have to be completely separate from one another: you can overlap sections if you want windows to sit in front of each other when in use. Carry on until you’ve created your desired layout, remembering that you don’t have to use every available pixel. Then click “Add new zone” again and repeat the process to define the next snapping zone. Next, click the “Add new zone” button above and drag the edges of the grey frame that appears below the zone-editing dialog until it occupies the part of the screen you want to use. Now enter a name for your new layout: we’ve called ours “Writing and research”, as it’s intended for writing articles, but almost any task where you need to have multiple apps in view simultaneously can benefit from a custom configuration. To do this, click “Edit zones” and “Custom”, followed by “Edit selected layout” (at present, you won’t have any custom layouts configured so this will create a new one). These predefined layouts make FancyZones useful straight out of the box, but it really comes into its own when you create your own layouts. With FancyZones active, dragging a window around the screen highlights zones in the background to demonstrate the space it will fill Simply run the command “choco install powertoys” to fetch the code – and as new builds are released, you can upgrade with “choco upgrade powertoys”. You can also install PowerToys from either the Command Prompt or PowerShell, using the Chocolatey package manager. At the time of writing, the current version is called PowerToysSetup-0.16.1-圆4.msi, although the version number may have gone up by the time you download it. If you’re ready to install PowerToys, you can download the installer here: look in the uppermost Assets section for the latest installer file. Note that you’ll need a 64-bit version of the OS, too: recent posts in the PowerToys support forums suggest that there are no plans for 32-bit support. At the moment, PowerToys only supports Intel processors, but a revision for versions of Windows running on ARM is in development. This was released back in early 2018, so as long as you’ve kept up to date with your patches, that shouldn’t be an issue. To run PowerToys, you’ll need to be using Windows 10 build 17134 or later.
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