File path too long?

swanseamale47

swanseamale47

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wayne clarke
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I have been trying to copy images from one drive to another, and keep getting the "file path too long" error message, now I understand the basics of what it means but I can't figure out why 3 or 4 images (out of say a hundred) come up with this error when they all have 4 digit consecutive numbers ( so same file path lengh) Even copying a video file called R4.avi direct from G drive is too much for it (it's not even in a folder) I can't shorten it much more.
What on earth is going on, it's driving me potty.
Thanks. Wayne
 
the folder name and rest of the path, had it happen to me once, took me hours to figure out. try shortening the directory name. no idea why it only some files though.

the files that wont copy arent in another folder are they? possible error on drive?
 
I am not sure if it has anything to do with the whether the HDD is formatted in FAT32 or NTFS?
 
Harvey_nikon said:
I am not sure if it has anything to do with the whether the HDD is formatted in FAT32 or NTFS?
Click to expand...

Interesting, I think it's NTFS but I'd have to check, why would it only affect some files though? Do they both have to be the same?
It seems fairly random, some folders with longish names it'll copy faultlessly, others with much shorter names it'll play silly beggars.
Thanks for the replies guys.
 
You have to consider the entire path name. If you are copying a directory to your desktop it might be

C:/documents and settings/darren/desktop/images 260709/ <filename>

now the entire filename cannot be more than x characters (where x is dependent on the filesystem, 255 chars for NTFS)

SO if you are just copying a load of files they should fit ok but imagine that you are copying a folder which contains other folders which also contain folders and the original person has used filenames which are meaningful such as "picture of Jeremy Clarkson leaning against a green jaguar.jpg" you can soon run out of characters. If this is the case you can copy the folder to a different location such as the root directory where you will save nearly 40 characters.
 
Thanks for the reply. As I said I even tried copying an AVI file direct from G drive (external drive) it was called R4 it was in the main drive directory (not any sub folders), yet other files with longer names (in folders) would copy across ok, very odd.
To be honest it seems like it just doesn't like some files.
The drive I'm copying to is FAT32 and the drive they are coming from is NTFS, both external can this be any part of the problem?
Thanks Wayne
 
Could it be where you are copying them to?
 
FAT32 and NTFS have the same maximum file length so it should not matter.
 
fletch5 said:
Could it be where you are copying them to?
Click to expand...

From one external drive to another external drive (back-up) another odd thing is they copied across in the first place from another disk, internal (multiple back-ups) without any problems. I tried copying from the original internal drive but get the same problems, although I'll get different files with errors every time I try it.
They are all done by drag and drop on Win xp pro.
Thanks. Wayne
 
can you use copy and paste? i remember seeing someone say there was a difference to drag and drop, and can you do it onto the same drive, sounds like file/drive corruption to me:shrug:
 
fletch5 said:
can you use copy and paste? i remember seeing someone say there was a difference to drag and drop, and can you do it onto the same drive, sounds like file/drive corruption to me:shrug:
Click to expand...

I'm in work now but I'll try that when I get home. Thanks. Wayne
 
Try raring/zipping the files in question then moving them. Also try moving files to the root of the drive and copying over to the root of the backup drive.

Hope this helps
 
If you copy the folder/files to your desktop, it ignores the "file path too long" error message, then zip it up, copy to the drive you want and unzip.

Very convoluted but sometimes i get this error message when unzipping files, so i just unzip to my desktop and it works.
 
Edit i've only just noticed this is an old thread, sorry lol
 
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