Windows 7 Pro - 256 character limit copy bug
So, I am well aware of the 256 character limit when trying to copy or access files through windows explorer. When a user goes to copy a file folder down from the server, they may find out that mid-copy, the file path for some files is too long. This is all fine and dandy. The other day, I had a user on a windows 7 pro client who dragged and dropped a folder from a network share down to their desktop. The file copy completed successfully with no errors. The only problem was, there was roughly 40GB of data that should have been copied and only 3GB was.... and NO ERROR!!! I was able to repeat this again and again. I ended up using Robocopy to get the files down to his pc, but the fact that this user got no error message that his copy was incomplete is unacceptable. Is this a known bug? Is there a fix for this?
August 4th, 2012 8:41pm

Hi, What kinds of file are in that folder? Please check what files cannot be copied and give me an example. Otherwise, you can try to copy the file separately that cannot be copied originally. What about if you use /256 switch for Robocopy, please test. Juke Chou TechNet Subscriber Support If you are TechNet Subscription user and have any feedback on our support quality, please send your feedbackhere.Juke Chou TechNet Community Support
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
August 6th, 2012 1:53am

There are .jpg, .doc, .docx, .pdf, .xls, .xlsx, other misc files. When I attempt this file copy on my machine, I receive the following error message. So it appears to be only with this machine, but I have no idea what to do in order to fix this. What would you suggest?
August 6th, 2012 11:47am

Hi, This should be the files' path or name is indeed too long. Please rename them to a shorter name or path. If you just want the error message to appear, Please try it on the other Windows 7 boxes and check whether it persists. Additionally, I can give you some troubleshooting directions. You could test whether the size of copied folder is too big. 1. Test whether the error is received when copy files less than 4 GB. 2. Test whether the error is received when copy files that exceed 4GB. Juke Chou TechNet Community Support
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
August 7th, 2012 4:29am

Hi, Any update?Juke Chou TechNet Community Support
August 8th, 2012 11:50pm

Sorry for the delay. I do receive an error message when copying the folder on another windows PC. I have not tested based on the files size. It's a bit hard to test when the user needs his laptop.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
August 24th, 2012 7:34pm

Hi, Have you tried to rename the files'path to a shorter name? Best Regards Scott Xie
August 28th, 2012 1:42am

I'm sure if I did, there wouldn't be an issue. The problem however, is that windows doesn't throw an error message notifying the user that all files were not copied because the file path is to long. Windows just acts like it copied the folder just fine, the user leaves the office for a client meeting believing they downloaded all the files and then goes to pull up a file to show the client and then discovers they don't have all the files. Unacceptable. Should I just re-install windows here or is there something else that can be done to troubleshoot this?
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
August 28th, 2012 12:51pm

Yes, I understand your concern and it is unacceptable. However, I have searched the bugcheck database but don't find such bug. Could you please help confirming if you download the file on problematic client using exactly the same way as other clients? Have you ever mapped a drive to that share on the problematic client and download the file using mapped drive? Best Regards Scott Xie
August 29th, 2012 4:16am

The same method was used on the working client as on the problematic client. Simple drag and drop. The share is a DFS Namespace and it is mapped as a network drive.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
August 29th, 2012 12:35pm

To troubleshoot the issue, a lot of logs need to be analyzed. I suggest that you can submit a case to Microsoft for further troubleshooting. Best Regards Scott Xie
September 11th, 2012 3:01am

I'll just do a repair of the OS or reinstall. Thanks.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
September 11th, 2012 5:10pm

This topic is archived. No further replies will be accepted.

Other recent topics Other recent topics