Vista - rename files (lots of files for newbie)

I have a list of files which has 3 parts name, liked the following:

a.system.ini
a.appl.ini
a.ado.ini
b.web.ini
c.custom.ini
..
..
..

The leading a.* b.* c.* portion are needed to be removed.

I've played with this two. First one only append something to the name.
2nd doesn't work. I've got >> after finishing the command.
dir |Rename-Item -NewName {$_.Name + "1"}
get-childitem *.ini | foreach { move-item -literalpath $_
$_.name.replace("[a.]","" )

How can I use the rename-Item or move-item to rename or remove the leading
portions?

Thanks.

You can rename the files using the -replace operator in a subexpression and
passing this value as the -newName parameter of the Rename-Item Cmdlet like
this:

Get-ChildItem -filter *.ini | Foreach {Rename $_ -new $($_.name -replace
'^[a-z]\.')}

....but this will return an error if the new name already exists, e.g.:

a.appl.ini
b.appl.ini

...."a.appl.ini" will be renamed "appl.ini" but "b.appl.ini" can not be
renamed "appl.ini"

--
Kiron

thank you, Kiron. the note on error is very kind of you.

I had luck with Rename-Item.

--
Jon.

You're welcome. Sorry about the typo in the Foreach statement block,
Rename-Item instead of just Rename.

Get-ChildItem -filter *.ini | Foreach {Rename-Item $_ -new
$($_.name -replace '^[a-z]\.')}

--
Kiron