Destination Path too long error in Windows 7

Jai Mata Di!

Cheers to all!

Issue: When i tried to copy n paste files from my laptop to external hard drive, i used to get a long message

<the file name(s) would be too long for the destination folder. You can shorten the file name and try again, or try a location that has a shorter path> under the title Destination Path too long.

One more issue i was getting was i was unable to rename multiple files at the same time. The error was the same.

Resolution: i found my mistake. Though i cannot give a very detailed tech explanation but i can tell u how i resolved it.

The files i was trying to copy to external drive were deep in the directory. ie: C:\xyz\dfg\hjhk\kio\lop\juy\... i had large number of folders n hence unknowingly i landed up with lot of folder in folders.

Copying Very deep directories (large no. of folder in folder situations) makes it impossible for the system to transfer files successfully to other drives.

Pl note this example.
Suppose i want to transfer folder f1 to external drive D.

Remember folder f1 contains many folder in folders like f2,f3...f11 (deep in the directory)

(ie: C:\f1\f2\f3\f4....\f10\f11. so what do i do?

Simple. Copy f1 and simply paste to some external drive say D: Right?

For me i had issues with the last folder f11 where in i got the error message mentioned at the beginning.

What i did was copy f11 folder (where i faced the issue) n simply paste to D: or any other new folder say D:\New Folder which is near the root directory of the D: drive destination (but not in depth).

The issue gets resolved.

Also the issue of renaming of multiple files in folders very deep in sub folders can be resolved by simply taking out that folder from that deep sub directory and pasting it in the root directory space like C:\desktop n then you may rename multiple files at the same time .

Initially i though a virus had caused the issue but it was the folder in folder issue.

Though i would like to remind u folks that issue to me occurred very deep in the directory. if u have 5 to 6 folder in folders u may not get this issue. also the name of the folders should limited not very long. i m unsure of how many characters but still keep it short.

Thanks

andrew129260 said:

Glad you got it resolved :)

Jai Mata Di!

Thanks!

strollin said:

Windows has a limitation of 260 characters for the path length so my guess is that the path limitation doesn't come into play during creation of deep nested sub-folders but does become relevant when attempting to copy/paste. Did you actually do a copy/paste or did you try selecting folder f1 in Windows Explorer and dragging it over to the external drive?

Jai Mata Di!

as far as my knowledge goes, both ways gave the same error.

but i dont recall which method i used exactly. i m sure copy/paste or drag is immaterial here!

The problem is that Windows has two path length limits. When using Unicode NTFS has a path length limit of over 32,000 characters for many operations. When doing a copy, move, or rename within an NTFS volume Windows is able to use that limit. But there is an older limit of 260 characters that is recognized by FAT32 and many applications. Some network file systems will also recognize the lower limit. To accommodate these older file systems and applications systems Windows must at times use the lower limit. I am not sure of the details.

LMiller7 said:

The problem is that Windows has two path length limits. When using Unicode NTFS has a path length limit of over 32,000 characters for many operations. When doing a copy, move, or rename within an NTFS volume Windows is able to use that limit. But there is an older limit of 260 characters that is recognized by FAT32 and many applications. Some network file systems will also recognize the lower limit. To accommodate these older file systems and applications systems Windows must at times use the lower limit. I am not sure of the details.

Ok pal!