While it might be a bit overwhelming at first sight, the 5-15 minute learning curve is well worth the time and energy you’ll undoubtedly save.

The Bulk Rename Utility allows you to perform a plethora of bulk file name modifications, all of which leave the files’ extension untouched unless you deploy an edit using the “Extension” section. You can easily add, remove and substitute letters, numbers, date and timestamps and it can all be done in more than a single way in some situations, ultimately leaving the process very open to the user.

You are provided with a preview of all potential and pending changes so you can tinker with and tweak your settings accordingly, though if you make an error it’s easily reversible by tapping CTRL+Z.

As you can see in the image below I’ve managed to alter the text to be appropriately capitalized (4), I requested all underscores to be removed (5), shifted the band’s name from the rear to the front (6) and inserted dashes ” – ” at the designated position (7) to separate the band and song name. The configuration of this took literally 45 seconds or less, if you’re curious.

Once you experiment by using a few features or skim some relevant sections in the help file, the rest should be easy with a bit of common sense.

I’ve personally used this utility to reorganize roughly 2,500 music files in 200+ folders, something I’d been putting off for over a year due to the tedious nature of the whole process, but with BRU it only took me less than a couple of hours (including the learning curve).

Download the Bulk Rename Utility here.

So, head to your hardware manufacturer’s website and download the latest drivers available for Windows Vista – we also keep a healthy catalog of the latest drivers for graphics cards and other devices in our own drivers section.

After downloading the drivers, run the installation setup and follow the prompts as if you would any other time. If you are presented with any errors due to compatibility, cancel the installation, right click the on the install package’s .exe and choose “Troubleshoot Compatibility”.

This will present you with a “Program Compatibility” wizard of sorts, which is a bit more friendly than on previous version of Windows.

The wizard will show a few common issues to select from and ask which apply to your situation. It won’t allow you to proceed without selecting something, so if it’s not already, just check the box next to “The program worked in earlier versions of Windows but won’t install or run now” and click next.

Obviously we’ll want to choose Windows Vista as the last known OS to support the drivers.

Upon completion you ought to be met with a window displaying the new settings enabled for your software and the option to test your new configuration by clicking next.

Interesting fact: According to Google Analytics, over the past few weeks the number of visitors coming to TechSpot using Windows 7 has exploded. Currently it accounts for roughly 2% of our traffic. Doesn’t sound like much but this is only 15 days after its beta release. It also makes for the fourth most popular OS among our readers after XP (65%), Vista (23%) and Mac OS X (3%).

As it turns out, it’s quite the challenge to turn up with something that looks good within 16×16 pixels, though I’m confident you will like our updated favicon as it looks distinctive, which is perhaps the most important attribute in a favicon when you are browsing around and switching tabs on Firefox, or accessing a bookmark from your favorite browser.

TechSpot new favicon

Google updated their favicon just a few weeks ago and we thought why don’t we as well? I got to work and came up with an improved version of the “T” favicon, adding a bit of a gradient/depth and rounded corners. Kudos to favicon.cc for making my life easier when porting the 16×16 image to .ico format.

Now Microsoft is expected to unleash the first public preview of Windows 7 at their Professional Developers Conference this week. Some details have leaked already, but nothing to share just yet in terms of UI elements except for this PDC wallpaper that all computers at the conference are using (courtesy of istartedsomething). I have been using it for the past few hours and I had to recommend it. Nice colors, blends well and is a bit flashy (Vista style) without being too distracting.

Call this the silent launch of TechSpot’s new deals section which is far and away improved over the aging deals we managed just until now. So check it out, here’s your reward for checking out this not-so-often updated staff blog :)

Besides eWeek and Website Magazine which are some of their quality standard offerings, I recently got an email from TP letting me know of three new whitepapers on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) which is a recurrent topic on today’s Internet if you are looking to maximize your exposure on the web. Check them out if you’ve got a chance:

Do’s and Don’ts of Search Engine Optimization

Website Redesign and Search Engine optimization – Keys For Success

Determining the Best Keyword Strategies for Your SEO and SEM Campaigns

Source: Wired
Original Source: BMW

In the world of expensive ultra-portables though, the MacBook Air and the new ThinkPad X300 are two jewels to be had… check this out before buying though…

From Macrumors.com:

When Apple released the Early 2008 Mac Pro, they offered the NVIDIA 8800GT as an upgrade option, however due to firmware issues, the 8800GT was not compatible with previous generation Mac Pros — until today.

And here’s a reaction by a Mac Pro owner, taken from Apple’s website:

YES! We all know how good this card is and 1st Gen Mac Pro owners can now use it…
Hooray!

Perhaps you may want to grab an overpriced memory upgrade kit from the manufacturer as well?

Most folks recall the story about the Tacoma, Wash., house that was trashed after a woman posted an ad on Craigslist telling people to “please help yourself to anything on the property.”

Well, some mischief maker in Jacksonville, Ore., apparently decided to re-enact the Tacoma house-trashing scheme. According to this Associated Press story, Robert Salisbury came home to nearly 30 people rummaging through his barn and front porch. Not only that, when he told the trespassers to give him back his belongings, he was rebuffed.

The Craigslist post advertised all of Salisbury’s stuff–even his horse–as free for the taking. The woman who showed up to take his horse finally started to feel uneasy about the whole deal when she realized that the horse looked perfectly healthy, and well, seemed to actually belong to someone. She left a note on the door and then decided to call Salisbury to make sure that the ad was legit.

Full story here.