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I have a folder containing a large number of files on D:\dev\tools\eclipse. I decided to move it to my C: drive (at the same path) for speed, since C: is an SSD.

The drag-n-drop move refuses to copy 4 files with extra long names saying they're too long.

  • OS is Windows 7 Pro X64
  • C: is a 250GB SSD
  • D: is on an LSI 9260 hardware RAID card with 3 2TB drives configured as RAID-5 (3.6 TB effective capacity)
  • Both C: and D: are formatted NTFS.

Why would the identical path length be OK on the RAID drive but not on the SSD?

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

If I use the "Copy as Path" context menu item (Shift-right-click) on the file, on D: it copies a path that has 8.3 short names substituted for path elements longer than 8 characters, while on C: it uses the full names.

However, fsutil shows both drives having 8.3 names enabled

C:\Windows\system32>fsutil 8dot3name query c:
The volume state for Disable8dot3 is 0 (8dot3 name creation is enabled).
The registry state of NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation is 2, the default (Volume level setting).
Based on the above two settings, 8dot3 name creation is enabled on c:.

C:\Windows\system32>fsutil 8dot3name query d:
The volume state for Disable8dot3 is 0 (8dot3 name creation is enabled).
The registry state of NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation is 2, the default (Volume level setting).
Based on the above two settings, 8dot3 name creation is enabled on d:.

They're identically configured, So that still leaves the question of why Windows would use 8.3 names in one but not the other.

Ex Umbris
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  • Excellent question - YES I can open the files in a text editor. – Ex Umbris Jun 21 '16 at 18:17
  • A little more digging revealed that D: is using 8.3 names while C: is not, but then see the edit to the question. – Ex Umbris Jun 21 '16 at 18:25
  • I reopened this question because I don't feel it's a duplicate of "How to copy files that have too long of a file path in Windows?" This question is about WHY the file can't be moved (between to identical file systems) when it obviously can exist and works. At no point does it actually ask HOW to accomplish copying it. The "duplicate" is linked in the answer provided, so the reference to HOW is included there, and in turn, in the side panel as "linked/related". If you disagree, feel free to vote it closed again. :) – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Jun 22 '16 at 13:06

1 Answers1

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NTFS itself has a maximum file path length of 32,767 characters/bytes.

It's the Windows API that has a 260 character limit (256 characters for path, plus 4 characters for drive letter, colon, slash and a trailing EOL/NUL), and therefore the system utility you're (most likely) using to copy the files goes by that length, and that's what is failing.

For suggestions on how to successfully copy a long file path around in Windows, check out this existing SU question:

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Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007
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