lost file, please help

[Yaja123]

i had an .avi file.

i was changing the name and pressed return or clicked off the file before renaming and the file was renamed .the.etc etc.avi

"etc etc" is not the real name of the file. anyway, file disappeared in finder and pathfinder. and i cant sportlight it.

so starting with a 'dot' the file disappears? i tried it with another file i made a copy of and the same thing happens.

i was playing the avi file briefly before i began renaming in vlc and the file still appears in the recent list and i can watch it fully.

anyone know how to recover the file so i can see it?

thanks.

 

[Bill Gates]

Easy. Open up a terminal window. Navigate to whatever directory the file is in- "cd documents/movie" or whatever the path is. Hit tab to autocomplete a directory name if you want. Once in the directory, type "ls ." and hit tab. You should see your file listed. Now, type "mv .the.etc etc.avi newname.avi" changing the command to suit the current name and the new one u want.

 

[Yaja123]

wow, bill gates helping me? not sure i want help from you considering your windows software - you will go to hell for all the suffering you have caused!

anyway, i got to terminal but i have no idea what lingo to use to get to where i need to go.. care to help some more?

its in home/movies/bit torrents/

 

[Bill Gates]

wow, bill gates helping me? not sure i want help from you considering your windows software - you will go to hell for all the suffering you have caused!

anyway, i got to terminal but i have no idea what lingo to use to get to where i need to go.. care to help some more?

its in home/movies/bit torrents/

When you fire up the terminal it *should* be in your home directory by default. So the first command you would need to type would be "cd movies/bit torrents". However, hit tab once you type "bit" and let it autocomplete since you put a space in the folder name. After that, it's "ls .", then the tab key to provide a listing of files starting with ".", and then just "mv .oldname.avi newname.avi" replacing the names with their actual ones.

 

[Yaja123]

thanks. all fixed. you are a genuis.

 

[Bill Gates]

I'm glad to have been able to help. It's just a little knowledge I picked up from using Linux.