Windows XP and long file names

  • Thread starter Thread starter rfdjr1
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rfdjr1

I thought Windows XP could handle long file names, that is, in excess of eighty
characters. I use Windows XP Pro and whenever I try to change (usually shorten)
the name, or even delete a file of over eighty characters, either by
highlighting in Windows Explorer and clicking the big red X for delete, or
right-clicking on the file to choose delet or rename, Windows Explorer gives me
an error message which says Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and will
shut down, then closes. Any idea why this is? Seems to me I should be able to
work with these long files names. Most of them are usually .mp3 files which
after downloading have more information than I want, like artist, album, track
number, year it was recorded, name of the track...mp3, all of which makes up for
a file name I can't work with. Thanks for any ideas.
 
Hi,

You should be aware that the 255 character file name length limit in XP
also includes the path to the file. So a path such as:
C:\Documents and Settings\This is my name\My Documents\My Music\Country
and Western Downloads\Billy Joe Bob Country Band\
Has already used up over half of the allowed number of characters
before you get to the filename.
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote in
I thought Windows XP could handle long file names, that is, in excess
of eighty characters. I use Windows XP Pro and whenever I try to
change (usually shorten) the name, or even delete a file of over
eighty characters, either by highlighting in Windows Explorer and
clicking the big red X for delete, or right-clicking on the file to
choose delet or rename, Windows Explorer gives me an error message
which says Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and will shut
down, then closes. Any idea why this is? Seems to me I should be able
to work with these long files names. Most of them are usually .mp3
files which after downloading have more information than I want, like
artist, album, track number, year it was recorded, name of the
track...mp3, all of which makes up for a file name I can't work with.
Thanks for any ideas.
Click to expand...

Why not use the ID3 tags in the files for all that info? I store MP3s
for easy retrieval as:
artist - songtitle.mp3

By the way, if you haven't tried it, Advanced MP3 Catalog Pro from some
Russians at www.wizetech.com is a fantastic program to automatically
catalog your collection, letting you search 300,000 songs in microseconds
as it caches all the filenames and ID3 tag info in a really compact
database that's properly indexed in microseconds, without all the disk
drive grinding other programs I tried did. "What have you got by Pink
Floyd?", she asks, huskily over her glass. (click) "Want to hear one of
these?", you reply, turning the LCD monitor to her with all the PF songs
on all the folders in all the drives in a click....(c; Great program any
collector should have...AdMP3CatPro will automatically rename the files
to any format you like from the ID3 tag info, too, giving you some
standardization to all the filenames. It also does automatic duplicate
detection, worth the price right there if you collect a lot.

Larry
Can't help it...I'm a mobile DJ...(c;
 
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