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Erase le with too long lename

Bylopdog 18 replies
Apr 15, 2011

Hi,IhaveafilethatIcannotdelete,renameormove,becauseWindowssaysit'sname
istoolongorthepathistolong(notsupportedbythefilesystem).Thedialogboxtells
metorenamethefile,ormoveittoanotherlocation,butnoneofthisisposible.How
canIgetridofthisfile?(AndhowisitevenposiblethattheAutoCADinstallerand
Windowscreatesafilethatthefilesystemcannothandle?)

Apr 15, 2011 #1

YourPCmaybeinfectedwithavirusorothermalware

Tmagic650
TS Ambassador
Posts: 17,246 +235
Apr 16, 2011 #2

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TRENDING aswellasviruscheckig,alsorunchkdsk
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gbhall
TechSpot Chancellor
Posts: 2,431 +77
Apr 17, 2011 #3

YoucouldtryandrunaprogramlikeEraser,youmayhavetotellitto
deleteonreboot.

SNGX1275
TS Forces Special
Posts: 10,722 +405
Apr 17, 2011 #4

moveallcontent(excepttheproblemfile)inthefolder
backuptotheparentfolder

deletethesubfolderwiththesoleproblemfileinit.
jobeard
TS Ambassador
Posts: 9,914 +734
Apr 17, 2011 #5

NTFSDirectorydepthlimit

ThereisnoofficialpublishedNTFSfilespecification...however,underNTFSthe
jobeard directorydepthislimitedbythe255characterfilenamelimit;directorydepthcannotbe
TS Ambassador morethat.
Posts: 9,914 +734

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Thismeans LOGIN
a)onedirectory&filenamepaircanbe<=255charactersinlength
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b)NNdirectorynames(ora'path')+thelongestfilenameinthelast
subdircanbe<=255characters
FORUMS

Ibeleivethatthe'\'pathseparatorisadded(orincluded)tothethetotal
length.

Apr 17, 2011 #6

Youcandeleteitfromcommandprompt.
1)Windows>Run>typecmd.exeandhitenter
2)Navigatetothefolderyouareafterusingthe"cd"command.E.g.if
thedirectoryis:
Darth Shiv c:\this\is\my\folder\path,
TS Evangelist
Posts: 1,705 +409 youwouldtype
cd/dc:\this\is\my\folder\pathandhitenter.
Note.the/dmeansalsochangecurrentdriveaswellifapplicableso
thiscommandworksifyouhavemultipleharddrives.
3)Deletethefilebyusingit's8letterdosname.Ifthefileisnamed
SOMEREALLYBIGFILENAME.EXT,thetrickispickthefirst6letters
thenadd"~1"andthentheextension.
Sotype"delSOMERE~1.EXT"andhitenter.Itshouldconfirmthe
deletionwassuccessful.

Apr 18, 2011 #7

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lopdog
TS Maniac
Topic Starter
Posts: 295

Thisisthefamousfile.ItwascreatedbyAutodeskAutoCAD,andI
don'tthinkit'savirus(unabletoscan,noactionsispossiblewiththis
file).Icopiedtheentire"ApplicationData"folderfromacomputer
runningWindowsXPtomyexternalusbhdd,andnowIhaveerased
everythingagain,exceptthisfile.Deletingthefileusingits8letterDOS
namedidnotworkeither.Ialsotriedtousechkdsk,butitfound
nothing.

Apr 18, 2011 #8

OK,Ifoundasolution:Irenamedalltheparentdirectoriesto"1",(eg.
C:\1\1\1\1\1\1\1\...etc).Thatwaythefilepathandnamewasshort
enoughtoerasethefile.

lopdog
TS Maniac
Topic Starter
Posts: 295 parag60288 likes this.

Apr 18, 2011 #9

welldonethanksforthefeedback

jobeard
TS Ambassador
Posts: 9,914 +734
Apr 18, 2011 #10

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Thatmust'vebeenoneheckofajpg.
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LNCPapa
TS Special Forces
Posts: 4,235 +444
ravisunny2 likes this.

Apr 19, 2011 #11

Ifoundasosimplewaytodoit,itreallypissedmeoff,Cut,Pastein
recyclebin,emptyrecyclebin,Ihad7fileswithover260characters
long,

Smilez33613
TS Rookie

coldheart7 likes this.

Jan 2, 2014 #12

Smilez33613said:

Ifoundasosimplewaytodoit,itreallypissedmeoff,Cut,Pasteinrecyclebin,empty
recyclebin,Ihad7fileswithover260characterslong,

coldheart7
TS Rookie Thanksalot.Sosimple.

Jan 17, 2014 #13

Thismightberelatedifithappensagain
http://www.howtogeek.com/179173/askhtgwhyiswindowsreporting

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thisfolderistoolongtocopy/ LOGIN

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Jan 29, 2014 #14

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learninmypc
TS Evangelist
Posts: 7,013 +351

lopdogsaid:

OK,Ifoundasolution:Irenamedalltheparentdirectoriesto"1",(eg.C:\1\1\1\1\1\1\1\...
etc).Thatwaythefilepathandnamewasshortenoughtoerasethefile.

parag60288
TS Member Itreallyworked.NowIhaverelief.

May 23, 2014 #15

EasiestwayistoopenWINRARarchivingsoftware.Navigatetotrouble
causingfiles'folder',rightclickitandrenameitto'1'.Ifitrenamesyou
canthenrightclickanddelete.

deej78
TS Rookie

Jun 11, 2014 #16

HAI!!the"1"filenameworkedI'dgrabedawallpaperarchivefrom
konachanandIcouldnotdeletethefolderrenamedbothfoldersto"1"
anditworked,heckevenccleanercouldn'tdeleteitneither,butIgotit
donesothanksy'all
noemi
TS Rookie

Jul 28, 2014 #17

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TRENDING Smilez33613said:
REVIEWS FEATURES BEST OF DOWNLOADS PRODUCT FINDER

Ifoundasosimplewaytodoit,itreallypissedmeoff,Cut,Pasteinrecyclebin,empty
FORUMS recyclebin,Ihad7fileswithover260characterslong,

D Chamberlain
TS Rookie lol..IjustcutandpasteditlikeyousaidandVoila!Ididhavetomake
onemorestep,movefrom"Music"to"PublicMusic"foldertodoit
though.Greatsuggestion!:O)

Sep 10, 2014 #18

Thanksdeej78!Workedlikeacharm.Iwasn'tabletodelete,moveor
anything.SoI'mnotsurehowothersaredoingthatstuff.Windows
wouldn'tevengivemeanoptiontocopy/cutormove.Ieventriedjust
draggingthefiletotherecyclebinandWindowssaidNO!
Steven Shaffer
TS Rookie

Markos illona likes this.

Sep 30, 2014 #19

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