Numerous Subdirectorie's Containing Several Files With No Extension's

WyattCollins · Aug 13, 2023

I have a Desktop folder containing a lot of subfolder's with file's that have no extension.

Is there a single cmd command to get all of these file's in the same folder?

Also, is there a single cmd command to delete all the empty subfolder's?

Winuser · Aug 13, 2023

Do you have show file extensions turned on in File Explore? As for moving them, you can't just select all files then copy and paste them? I don't like using cut and paste because if something goes wrong you can lose the files forever.

WyattCollins · Aug 13, 2023

I'm working on putting together a personal batch file for manually running in cmd.

Yep, I have the 'show file extensions' turned on.

Ghot · Aug 13, 2023

WyattCollins said:
I'm working on putting together a personal batch file for manually running in cmd.

Yep, I have the 'show file extensions' turned on.

To post a screenshot on this forum...

1. Take the screenshot, edit it as desired, save to your desktop as .png or .jpg (max. size = 2MB)
2. Left click in your post, where you want to place the screenshot.
3. Click the Attach Files button at lower left, browse to your pic and click Insert.
4. After clicking Insert, I usually choose the Thumbnail option.

glasskuter · Aug 13, 2023

The files are useless to you unless you have the right program on your computer to open that type of file. Once you identify their extension or type, install the right program on your computer to open that kind of file.

There are some free file identifier tools that let you know the extensions of the unknown file types. Some are online, some are executable. This article gives you a list and explains how to use each one. How to open file with no extension in Windows 11/10

You can use xcopy to copy files by file type from multiple folders Gather similar files from multiple folders and copy them in one simple step
You can use powershell to delete the empty folders. How to Find and Delete Empty Folders on Windows

garlin · Aug 13, 2023

This sounds like the desktop folder may be an app's cache folder. They're recognizable as really long filenames with no extensions, grouped evenly across several subfolders. If that's the case you need to identify which recent app was installed, or had its temp folders changed.

WyattCollins · Aug 13, 2023

ok...what is my post missing that causes everyone to think or believe these files are useless to me.
I know what the files are.
I use these image files on a virtual site. They are supposed to be png and jpg files.
I'm trying to put together commands as a batch file to use less time moving them into a single folder.

I dont want a GUI to do the job for me.
I want a CLI file to do this particular job in Windows...thus a batch file.
I already have it for a Linux system.

Even a dos bash converter tool or website will do.

garlin · Aug 13, 2023

MoveFiles.bat [source] [dest]

Code:

<# : batch script
@echo off
cd %~dp0
powershell -nop Invoke-Expression ('$args = @(''%*'' -split '' '')' + [System.IO.File]::ReadAllText('%~f0'))
goto :eof
#>

if ($args.Count -ne 2) {
    "Usage: MoveFiles.bat source dest"
    exit
}

if (-not (Test-Path $args[0] -PathType Container)) {
    "Source folder ""$args[0]"" is not valid."
    exit 1
}
if (-not (Test-Path $args[1] -PathType Container)) {
    "Dest folder ""$args[1]"" is not valid."
    exit 1
}

$Dest = (Get-Item $args[1]).FullName
foreach ($Filename in (Get-ChildItem $args[0] -File -Recurse).FullName) {
    try {
        Move-Item -Path $Filename -Destination $Dest -ErrorAction Stop
    }
    catch {
        'Error on "{0}": {1}' -f ($Filename -split '\\')[-1], $_.Exception.Message
    }
    $ErrorActionPreference = 'Continue'
}

Get-ChildItem $args[0] -Directory -Recurse | Remove-Item

WyattCollins · Aug 13, 2023

There's a powershell batch script.
We're getting closer.

I'm looking for cmd command should I need to run it in safe mode.

glasskuter · Aug 13, 2023

Please explain something to me. How do you open the files within Windows? Windows deals with everything by file type using extensions and your files have no such designation in their current state.
I am far, far away from knowing a lot about using the command line or powershell, so I may be way wrong here. But IMO to use these tools to perform a function that deals with things at the FILE LEVEL, all the files would have to have a similarity in file names (ie: XYZ* or *XYZ) or a similarity in extention.
@Brink Do you have a solution for this poster.

EDIT: Sorry @garlin I did not see where you had addressed this poster.

WyattCollins · Aug 13, 2023

glasskuter said:
Please explain something to me. How do you open the files within Windows? Windows deals with everything by file type using extensions and your files have no such designation in their current state.
I am far, far away from knowing a lot about using the command line or powershell, so I may be way wrong here. But IMO to use these tools to perform a function that deals with things at the FILE LEVEL, all the files would have to have a similarity in file names (ie: XYZ* or *XYZ) or a similarity in extention.
@Brink Do you have a solution for this poster.

EDIT: Sorry @garlin I did not see where you had addressed this poster.

After the files are all in one location, a file extension can easily be appended to the file, thus able to work in Window's.

I have the command to add the file extension already, but that command requires the files to be in the same folder or subfolder.

You're correct in how a windows system works with files.

I'm not sure if this system will allow dual boot with linux or a linux-base.

glasskuter · Aug 13, 2023

WyattCollins said:
I'm not sure if this system will allow dual boot with linux or a linux-base.

If Linux can easily deal with the files, you do not need to dual boot. Just boot from a Linux disto live usb and then deal with the files from within Linux. I do that all the time using Mint Cinnamon or Ubuntu when I need access to a windows drive to recover files or bypass dealing with Windows permissions. Wouldn't that work in your case?

garlin · Aug 13, 2023

WyattCollins said:
I'm looking for cmd command should I need to run it in safe mode.

What do you mean by safe mode? Like a preview option?
If you want to see what it would have done, append "-WhatIf" to the end of the Move-Item line. This converts it into a non-action.

If you're more at home with POSIX shells and tools, just install Cygwin. Then you don't need Linux or dual-boot to get those advantages.
I have it on my PC.

WyattCollins · Aug 13, 2023

garlin said:
What do you mean by safe mode? Like a preview option?
If you want to see what it would have done, append "-WhatIf" to the end of the Move-Item line. This converts it into a non-action.

If you're more at home with POSIX shells and tools, just install Cygwin. Then you don't need Linux or dual-boot to get those advantages.
I have it on my PC.

There are times I do things in safe mode, especially in a system level only environment.

WyattCollins · Aug 13, 2023

garlin said:
What do you mean by safe mode? Like a preview option?
If you want to see what it would have done, append "-WhatIf" to the end of the Move-Item line. This converts it into a non-action.

If you're more at home with POSIX shells and tools, just install Cygwin. Then you don't need Linux or dual-boot to get those advantages.
I have it on my PC.

Cygwin...is it like Wine and PlayOnLinux, etc?

WyattCollins · Aug 13, 2023

glasskuter said:
If Linux can easily deal with the files, you do not need to dual boot. Just boot from a Linux disto live usb and then deal with the files from within Linux. I do that all the time using Mint Cinnamon or Ubuntu when I need access to a windows drive to recover files or bypass dealing with Windows permissions. Wouldn't that work in your case?

Yep...that would work.

I would approach that in a way that nobody else would...
so it would seem that is a fail-safe idea.

However, I would still seek out a command line for the cmd batch file.

WyattCollins · Aug 13, 2023

here's the part of the dos batch file that I need to show...

This command works...but there are way more files like this which means a file full of these lines.
The double-colon (::) is just another way of retyping rem, short for remark.
It's comments that shouldn't be ran as a command and thus ignored by the system.
Can these lines be written as one line?

Code:

:: Move and rename files from source subdirectories and give the extension *.png to each file
move /y C:\Users\Wyatt\Desktop\Test-Dir\0b\8b\0b8bca5651664e27a343fb71586eb7f7 C:\Users\Wyatt\Desktop\Test-Dir\0b8bca5651664e27a343fb71586eb7f7.png
move /y C:\Users\Wyatt\Desktop\Test-Dir\3b\49\3b491db53fce5f9e48ffd1b4ea8f01eb C:\Users\Wyatt\Desktop\Test-Dir\3b491db53fce5f9e48ffd1b4ea8f01eb.png
move /y C:\Users\Wyatt\Desktop\Test-Dir\6a\50\6a50af3f8a6682a27083da35675f6ec5 C:\Users\Wyatt\Desktop\Test-Dir\6a50af3f8a6682a27083da35675f6ec5.png

TL Tech Life · Aug 17, 2023

@echo off
setlocal

set "rootFolder=C:\Users\test"

call

eleteEmptyFolders "%rootFolder%"

echo Empty folders deleted.
pause
exit

eleteEmptyFolders
for /f "delims=" %%d in ('dir /ad /b "%~1" 2^>nul') do (
call

eleteEmptyFolders "%~1\%%d"
)

for /f "delims=" %%d in ('dir /ad /b "%~1" 2^>nul') do (
rd "%~1\%%d" 2>nul
)

exit /b

Just change the 3rd line to where you want the command to start.

TL Tech Life · Aug 17, 2023

For every smiling emoji there was a colon : and a capital D

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