re: Filename too long, can't rename, open, etc. Friday, October 19, 2007 at 5:07 pm Windows XP Annoyances Discussion Forum Posted by Richard Harris (270 messages posted) Open a command prompt, navigate to the directory containing the file(s), and type DIR /X. This will show the "short" name of the file, assuming that your XP is setup to retain both long and short (DOS-type_ names). If you see a short name, you can operate on it, instead of on the long name. For example, on my PC a long file named "this_is_a_very_long_file_name.mp3" had a short name of "this_i~1.mp3". I then typed: rename this_i~1.mp3 zzz.mp3 This resulted in both the short name and the long name changing to zzz.mp3. Also check: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320081 http://www.replsoft.com/cutlongnames.html On Friday, October 19, 2007 at 2:04 pm, M Swanson wrote: >Hello! > >I've had several files I downloaded on my computer a while back that have obscenely >long filenames and whenever I try to modify them either in XP command prompt or with >the simple right-click, I either receive a "system cannot find the file specified" >message or nothing happens (respectively). > >I'm running XP Pro and these files are mostly .avi files that were ripped from home >videos--all in the proper manner since I've tested some other videos created in the >exact same way. > >Any help would be greatly appreciated! Written in response to: Filename too long, can't rename, open, etc. (M Swanson: Friday, October 19, 2007 at 2:04 pm) Responses to this message: re: Filename too long, can't rename, open, etc. (M Swanson: Monday, October 22, 2007 at 11:01 am) All messages in this thread [show all] Filename too long, can't rename, open, etc. (M Swanson: Fri, Oct 19, 2007, 2:04 pm) re: Filename too long, can't rename, open, etc. (Rich Kurtz: Fri, Oct 19, 2007, 4:21 pm) re: Filename too long, can't rename, open, etc. (M Swanson: Fri, Oct 19, 2007, 4:33 pm) re: Filename too long, can't rename, open, etc. (Richard Harris: Fri, Oct 19, 2007, 5:07 pm) re: Filename too long, can't rename, open, etc. (M Swanson: Mon, Oct 22, 2007, 11:01 am) re: Filename too long, can't rename, open, etc. (Steve: Fri, Oct 19, 2007, 8:22 pm) re: Filename too long, can't rename, open, etc. (Zyklon-B: Fri, Nov 16, 2007, 2:35 am) Reply or follow-up to this message Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows XP Discussion Forum