Re: Win32 256 character limitations

["Kurt Buff" <kurt.buff () gmail com>]

Robert,

If you're using Robocopy, you must make sure you have the latest
version. I'm using 5.1.1.1010 (aka XP010), dated 2003. There may be
newer versions, but this one is working for me.

> From the accompanying doco:

----------
Copy very long path names (longer that 256 characters).
Previous versions of Robocopy would fail to copy any pathname longer
than 256 characters. The program has now been enhanced to handle
pathnames of any length, up to the internal Windows limit of nearly
32,000 characters.
----------

Kurt


On Tue, Apr 15, 2008 at 10:19 AM,  <Robert.Yung () l-3com com> wrote:
> Hi List,
>
>  Hoping your varied experience can help with what I can't believe is
>  still an issue in filesystem management and what it might mean.
>  According to Microsoft (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320081/en-us) ,
>  NTFS supports paths that are much longer than 255 characters, but other
>  applications that run on top of Windows may not.  While I can't call
>  them liars, I've repeatedly found that even Windows Explorer and
>  Robocopy have problems copying and deleting files that have extremely
>  long file paths.
>
>  So my questions are:
>
>  1)  Is there a way (third-party tool, some obscure windows trick, etc)
>  to *make certain* that users do not create paths greater than a certain
>  #?  If not prevent, can we at least make it easier for the user to know
>  that they are reaching potential problem areas with their filing
>  practices?  How do companies deal with this problem when doing file
>  migrations for upgrades and disaster recovery?  There must be some way
>  to manage this issue.
>
>  2)  Can/do viruses exploit this bug at all to create files that are
>  unscannable by A/V?
>
>  Anyone with commentary on anything related to 256 character limitations
>  in production file server environments would be greatly appreciated.
>
>  Potential products to investigate are also welcome!
>
>  Thanks in advance,
>  Rob