Windows 7: File too long or invalid error.

Am copying mp3 files from an external ntfs hd partition to a local hd partition.

fileA
which is very long

copies

fileB
mozart_drott_1allegro

does not copy and a bunch of shorter file names don't copy (from the same album).

I changed the album data properties to something shorter as well and it still didn't copy

The file name you specified is not valid or too long. Specify a different file name



is the error.

help?? thanks.

the mp3 plays just fine in media players.



the bit rate on the very long .mp3 (that successful copies) and the error-producing file are the same (320kbps). The error-producing file has a lot of property information (title album artist genre etc) filled in and I tried tweaking that but no effect. A bit of a conundrum. This is vexing because what I'm trying to copy is my favourite and most played classical music files! Why the bloody hell aren't they copying?? this is pisses me off.


okay THIS is really interesting. Within the same (external) drive, folder, or in a different folder, I can't copy the mozart_drott_.mp3 files. I can't duplicate within the same folder or else I get the same error. I feel i'm progressing towards a solution. Could it be some drm thing? the error-producing mp3 files I bought from an online digital download purchase thing.

Finally selecting the file -->Properties --> Details --> 'Remove properties personal information' --> Create a copy with all possible properties removed' gets the SAME error! what the heck is going on??

Hi John. We need to see the full path names, both source and destination.

Hey kado,
Thanks for the response; I really appreciate it. This one has me stumped because after moving data around from hard drives for many years I have learned (at least some) ways to avoid snags with different file systems and OSes etc.

S:\extam_bu\classical_okay\mozart_drottningholm_k137_divert_salzburg_num2_3allegroassai.mp3

is the pathname of the file that can't be copied (in the same folder, onto a different drive or on the same drive)

I shorted the file name to

S:\extam_bu\classical_okay\mozart_drott_3allegroassai.mp3

still same problem. I shortedned many of the problem files to file names considerably shorter than others. There's no illegal characters as far as I can see.

There are 13 said files part of the same album.

the S: partition is on a 1TB toshiba external hard drive. in the classical_okay folder there's hundreds of .mp3s with names longer than the one above that copy fine. I tried attaching the hd and copying it on a different computer. Same problem.

?


the Destination is copying the said files to ANYWHERE. any drive. even duplicating them on the same drive, same folder, or different folder.

All those destinations (any destination where the file is copied, not moved) it results in the error. All other files can be copied.

the error-producing files CAN be moved within the same partition.

so essentially, until I solve this, those files are stuck on that drive.


***
I even shortened the file name to one letter (m.mp3). same problem.

really stumped on this one.

Hi John.That looks OK to me too. I wonder if the problem might lie in the tags the file has. I am not aware of any but its the only thing I can think of.

Try:

• Zip the album/files up (in a single archive).
• Copy/Move that file to the root directory of your external HDD.
• Copy/Move that zip file to the destination folder on your PC.
• Unzip them.