Windows XP Pro SP3 & Long File Names

  • Thread starter Thread starter D. Spencer Hines
  • Start date Start date
D

D. Spencer Hines

Since easily installing SP3 on my laptop I'm experiencing a new problem.

Whenever I copy folders for backup I get warnings that some filenames are
too long and cannot be copied to my Iomega backup drive.

So the backup fails.

This is a problem I've never experienced before. These same files were
easily backed up to the same drive just last week.

What was changed in SP3?

DSH
 
D. Spencer Hines said:
Since easily installing SP3 on my laptop I'm experiencing a new problem.

Whenever I copy folders for backup I get warnings that some filenames are
too long and cannot be copied to my Iomega backup drive.

So the backup fails.

This is a problem I've never experienced before. These same files were
easily backed up to the same drive just last week.

What was changed in SP3?
Click to expand...

Have a look for the overview of SP3. For the most part, it's a rollup
(there were after all around 100 post-SP2 updates) and there don't appear to
be fundamental changes.

http://download.microsoft.com/downl...982/Overview of Windows XP Service Pack 3.pdf
DSH
Click to expand...

I'd wonder exactly how long the filenames in question actually are, before
thinking that fundamental changes to the filesystem were implemented in a
service pack.

Also, what is the backup software?

HTH
-pk
 
D. Spencer Hines said:
Destination.

The issue is not with Acronis.
Click to expand...

Maybe it isn't, but maybe they have seen it.

Have you asked them?

I get these same errors when I simply try to copy and paste the file.
Click to expand...

Just one file or many? One folder or more than one? Are there any illegal
characters in the filename?
My problem certainly does not appear to be unique:

<http://help.lockergnome.com/windows/Long-File-Error-Windows-XP-Unable-copy-files-ftopict269654.html>
Click to expand...

Neither does it seem to be common.

Some of the posts in that thread are dated 2004, so I don't see how they
demonstrate any connection to XP SP3; I would think they demonstrate the
reverse.

I would think it's more possible that the filename, the file or the folder
is corrupted (and this is of course one of the reasons you are making
backups). The error message may be the closest that the OS can display,
but not quite correctly describe the real problem.

Try copying that file, or that folder, to a directory close to the root on
the source drive, to minimize the path length. Then try recopying to the
destination. Try changing the name. If the problems recur or new
problems are displayed, you may need to investigate the file or folder
integrity more closely and perhaps restore from backup.

Hopefully, you will find that the backups don't themselves contain corrupted
copies. It's always a good idea to have multiple copies and of course to
verify the backups periodically.

HTH
-pk
 
Just one file or many? One folder or more than one? Are there any
illegal characters in the filename?
Click to expand...

One file.

Two folders.

No illegal characters.

Completely different files are "too long for the Recycle Bin" too.

DSH
 
D. Spencer Hines said:
One file.

Two folders.

No illegal characters.


Completely different files are "too long for the Recycle Bin" too.
Click to expand...

Curiosity: What is the directory structure like before these 'problem
filenames'?

eg:
C:\Documents and Settings\D Spencer Hines\My Documents\My
Music\Classical\Beethoven\Beethoven - 9th Symphony - The Ode to Joy.mp3
 
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