Renaming with the DOS prompt

Is there a difference between renaming a file to a different file extension by using the DOS prompt vs. renaming the file by highlighting the file icon and changing it right there?

I'm trying to get a program to recognize an mp3 file as a midi file (for a cell phone ringtone), so I renamed filename.mp3 to filename.mid, and it is still treating it as an mp3. Now I know that the mp3 is not "physically" transformed by simply renaming it, but I'm wondering if I try to rename it through the DOS prompt, it may trick the program into thinking it really is a .mid file.

Also, what would the correct syntax be for the command? (I've almost never used DOS before). Thanks!

Renaming it isn't going to help you make it work on your phone.

Maybe one of these packages can do a conversion for you: http://www.mp3towav.org/mp3-to-midi.asp

(It won't sound the same--- MIDI has very basic capabilities compared to the quality of something like MP3)

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Anyway, to rename something from a command prompt (Note: There is no DOS in Windows XP... just command prompt shell that uses many of the same commands) you would use the command: REN oldname newname

You can get help (including syntax) for any command by typing it with a /? at the end. Example: REN /? will give you help on the REN command.

Thanks for the reply. I'm aware that the actual "physical" conversion to midi greatly reduces the quality, and that's what I don't want to happen. I'm not trying to do an actual mp3 to mid conversion. With the phone I have, you can simply rename an mp3 to mid , email it to the phone's photo-messaging capabilities, and use it as a ringtone without a loss of quality. The problem is that the phone company charges for this service. Since I have a USB data cable, I can do it free, but the program I'm using to transfer files to my phone doesn't like the renaming trick. I thought that maybe doing it through the DOS prompt would be a "truer" or more correct way to rename a file.

I see that the syntax is:

REN [drive:][path]filename1 filename2

Do the parentheses get typed as well? For the path, do you still add the backslashes? Keep in mind I've never used DOS on a regular basis.

No don't type the parentheses, they are just to indicate that those are optional parameters. Yes, do type the backslashes if necessary.

I suspect there may be more to that service than perhaps you think, an MP3 file contains the actual sounds to be played, whereas a MIDI file merely contains the instructions for a sound synthesiser to play the sounds. Therefore the two types of file are utterly different, and mere renaming isn't going to do anything, there will heve to be some sort of conversion process involved.

OK. Thanks for your quick response.