Bulk File Rename in Emacs

I've used a few bulk-rename tools on windows and I've never liked the interface to any of them. A few times, I've decided to just write a quick python script to rename what I need.

As an Emacs user, I figured there must be a better way. You can use dired mode to rename files in bulk. I'm using Emacs 24.3.1 on Windows 7.

• call dired mode on the folder with the files you want to rename
• enter "Editable Dired" mode by using M-x wdired-change-to-wdired-mode or you can use the key chord C-c C-q
• You can now edit the names of the files however you like. I often just need to use M-x replace-string on the buffer. You can also use other text editing tools.
• The edits you make are not live, you must commit your changes with C-c C-c or abort all your changes with C-c ESC

Emacs continues to be great :-)