Using a Dell PC computer with Windows 7 software… “C” Drive NTFS 247GB, “G” WD Drive NTFS 1000GB, “i” WD My Book Drive 999GB.
My software is on drive “C”. However, all my data is on external WD hard drive “G”. I also have a WD My Book external hard drive “i” and want to use this as a back-up (not for auto back-ups). In coping various filed from drive “G” to drive '“i”, I can copy and paste many files. However, I get a pop up screen saying that some of the files can’t be transferred (Pasted) because the FILE NAMES ARE TO LONG. A large number of files are photo files (NEF, TIFF, JPG)… and I need to shorten many file names. But it is way to many to figure out which ones (files) and then shorten the names.
So the big question is “How can I copy and paste all the files without shortening the file names?”
To begin with your question has nothing to do with a WD drive, Or anybody’s drive for that matter. It is plain and simply a question related to the Windows operating system. Windows only allows for file names of a maximum length (I think the magic number is 128 characters)
So, yea, you have to shorten names or PATHS, since path names are included in the magic number of Windows allowable file names… If you have files that have normal length names, but they are nested in a series of folders, one after the other, then that can make the “file name” too long. That’s about all the Windows instructions I will tell you, because this is a WD forum, not a Windows forum. I am a user like you, and I am here to help people with WD issues and not Windows issues. So. Google about Windows file name limitations and you can figure out what to do, perhaps. Good luck.
