Change case of file's NAME in Explorer

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ChrisGreaves
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Change case of file's NAME in Explorer

Post by ChrisGreaves »

forum?
I'm posting here because the problem is evident in Win10; I would swear that this happened in the past in earlier versions, so perhaps "Windows General"?

I have saved a file and named it "CH03 The beowulf manuscript". Note the mistake: I should have used an upper-case "B" in that name.

I use <F2> to edit the name, Ctrl-LeftArrow, then delete the "b" and replace it with "B".
Tap <Enter> and we're done. Not.
The name stubbornly refuses to change case; it remains/reverts at/to "b"eowolf.

My workaround is to edit the name, replace "b" with z, <Enter>, then re-edit the name replacing "z" with "B".

I know that (from DOS days) filenames are treated as case-sensitive, but I can't understand why Windows, with its new-fangled names greater than 8.3, won't allow me to make use of both cases when changing a file name.
After all, why should Windows care? :scratch:

Cheers
Chris
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HansV
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Re: Change case of file's NAME in Explorer

Post by HansV »

If you search the internet, you'll find similar complaints from long before Windows 10 appeared. The 'trick' you use is recommended, as well as prefixing the file name with a dummy character such as ~, and next time apply the case change and remove the ~.

But... when I try this (in Windows 10 Home version 2004), the change sticks.

S3531.png

And I found a tip from 2012: How to Force Your Windows File and Folder Names to Have the Case You Want.
I checked the registry on my PC. The DontPrettyPath value is set to 0... :scratch:

S3532.png
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Best wishes,
Hans

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BobH
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Re: Change case of file's NAME in Explorer

Post by BobH »

I think that is Chris' problem - DontPrettyPath is zero!
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HansV
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Re: Change case of file's NAME in Explorer

Post by HansV »

It's 0 on my PC and I can change the case in filenames!
But Chris can try setting it to 1 and see if it makes a difference...
Best wishes,
Hans

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Re: Change case of file's NAME in Explorer

Post by JoeP »

On my system with the latest Win10 Pro Insider Build (20215) the case sticks when I change a name. My registry setting is the same as Hans.
Joe

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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Change case of file's NAME in Explorer

Post by ChrisGreaves »

HansV wrote:
19 Sep 2020, 19:11
It's 0 on my PC and I can change the case in filenames! But Chris can try setting it to 1 and see if it makes a difference...
I offer my apologies for the delay in responding.
Untitled.png
I changed the registry setting to "1", closed regEdit and tried to rename "New folder" to be "new folder". The change (<F2> edit) didn't stick.
Then I rebooted, checked the registry key again - it is set to "1", and tried to rename "New folder" to be "new folder". The change (<F2> edit) STILL didn't stick.
This is not a critical issue. It may go away when get an update. Or it may not.

If I have understood this, both Hans and JoeP have the key set to "0" (as did I until a half hour ago), and yet they can change the case of a filename.
I had it set to "0", have it set to "1", and still cannot change the case of a filename (or folder).
:scratch: :scratch: :scratch:
Cheers
Chris
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StuartR
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Re: Change case of file's NAME in Explorer

Post by StuartR »

I have the same as Hans. DontPrettyPath is 0, but I can change the case of a filename without needing to add or remove characters.

This is a recent change, maybe with one of the Windows updates that has gone in this year. It didn't used to do this.
StuartR


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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Change case of file's NAME in Explorer

Post by ChrisGreaves »

StuartR wrote:
16 Oct 2020, 10:55
This is a recent change, maybe with one of the Windows updates that has gone in this year. It didn't used to do this.
Hmmm :scratch:

I *think* I am reasonably up to date.
Untitled.png
Stuart, if you think it worth it i shall try to trigger an update tonight before I go to bed.
Cheers
chris
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Re: Change case of file's NAME in Explorer

Post by StuartR »

ChrisGreaves wrote:
16 Oct 2020, 11:10
Stuart, if you think it worth it i shall try to trigger an update tonight before I go to bed.
It might be worth trying
StuartR


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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Change case of file's NAME in Explorer

Post by ChrisGreaves »

HansV wrote:
19 Sep 2020, 16:34
I checked the registry on my PC. The DontPrettyPath value is set to 0... :scratch:
Thank you Hans, Bob, Stuart and Joe.
I apologize; I had missed these replies way back when, and came across them only because I found something novel to add to the thread ("Third" below).

First: The registry. I found that my DontPrettyPath was set to zero. I set it to one, exited RegEdit, and found that I could now change the case. In the light of my second point(below) I am now unsure whether my setting DontPrettyPath to one had any effect at all, or whether a change to Win10 had already been made.
Nonetheless, thanks to all of you who suggested the registry tip.

Second: (And the reason for my return to this thread). I added text to a file Ctrlhome.doc this afternoon (note the capitalization) and as I saved the changes thought "I should capitalize the name once I exit MSWord."
In the meantime I decided to clone the document and save it as CtrlEnd.doc (note the capitalization). Word2003 reported that the file already existed, would I like to overwrite it? Well, you only live once, so I chose yes. I have to capitalize Ctrlhome.doc anyway, changing two file names instead of one won't hurt me.

To my surprise the capitalization with saveAs "stuck"!

At first I thought that Win10 had changed, then I visited this thread and did the registry hack and thought that maybe that had done it, but No, I had savedAs before I found the registry hack.

Third: Now I believe that I was able to saveAs CtrlEnd.doc because saveAs does not necessarily replace the existing file contents but perhaps deletes the old file from the folder and then saves the document as a new file in the folder.

I'm still a bit puzzled, but I suppose that that is a side-effect of using Windows (grin).
Cheers
Chris
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