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Linux File Limitations?

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On 7/1/2016 at 5:40 PM, IAmLamp said:

Just wondering if there would be something out there that could help bypass or get around the Windows file limitations, I need to get my data over to a different drive. I was thinking something like temporary use of Linux, but I'm not sure if that would work. 

Well some of the limitations are on Windows, and some are NTFS itself.  For example, NTFS supports having things like a colon in the file name, but try opening a file like that on Windows and it'll throw a fit.  The lack of case-sensitivity, however, is actually a limitation of NTFS itself from what I've been able to tell.  I'm not sure about all of the things we identified (path length limitations, support for other, even stranger characters, etc.) but the easiest way to get around the limitations would be to use Linux to move all your files onto a filesystem that supports everything you need, and then continue to use it just with Linux.

Posted
3 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Interesting.  I'll check that out actually, thanks :)

But by default, it does seem to have a 255 character path length limit.  Whether this is Windows or NTFS I'm not sure actually but it does happen on Windows 10 for me right now.

try this

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-ca/library/windows/desktop/aa365247(v=vs.85).aspx#maxpath

 

but with a file name as long as OP's I don't think moving to linux would solve any problems...

clearly this is a "get your stuff more organized" situation rather than a "just use more boxes and stuff your things in them" situation

It's really not hard to be an organized person, especially with digital files

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6 minutes ago, IAmLamp said:

*snip*

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack this, but I think we've demonstrated what you wanted to know. :)  Choosing the right filesystem will give you the following advantages over NTFS

  • Longer file names
  • Longer paths
  • Support for more characters in the filename/path
  • Case sensitive names (ie, two files called ABC and abc can coexist in the same folder, unlike NTFS)

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ext4 is also way higher performance. It doesn't have the need for defragmentation of the drive. NTFS, which Windows uses, is old and bad. ext4 has some more good things about it, but there is one con - it takes about 0.1% of the partition for itself. It's not much, but still some gigabytes.

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3 hours ago, Gachr said:

ext4 is also way higher performance. It doesn't have the need for defragmentation of the drive. NTFS, which Windows uses, is old and bad. ext4 has some more good things about it, but there is one con - it takes about 0.1% of the partition for itself. It's not much, but still some gigabytes.

Is there a way to change the file system in Windows? That doesn't sound like something that could be done naturally though 

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6 minutes ago, IAmLamp said:

Is there a way to change the file system in Windows? That doesn't sound like something that could be done naturally though 

Not really.  The only ones they support are NTFS and FAT32 (which is older and worse yet).

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1 minute ago, IAmLamp said:

Is there a way to change the file system in Windows? That doesn't sound like something that could be done naturally though 

No. Windows only supports NTFS, FAT16/32 and exFAT. I doubt you can install the OS on the FATs, tho it is technically possible. It can support ext4 and other systems through extensions, but for sure you won't install the OS on it... unless you are an ultimate haxxxxer.

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3 hours ago, Gachr said:

No. Windows only supports NTFS, FAT16/32 and exFAT. I doubt you can install the OS on the FATs, tho it is technically possible. It can support ext4 and other systems through extensions, but for sure you won't install the OS on it... unless you are an ultimate haxxxxer.

I might know someone that might be able to, but they have other things to worry about 

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1 minute ago, IAmLamp said:

I might know someone that might be able to, but they have other things to worry about 

Even if, I'm pretty sure the performance won't be as good as on Linux. Just go and use Linux.

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1 minute ago, IAmLamp said:

I might know someone that might be able to, but they have other things to worry about 

Even if it could be made to work, I wouldn't suggest it.  I would bet that Windows on NTFS would be vastly faster and safer than Windows on some better file system using a hack :P

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3 minutes ago, IAmLamp said:

Speaking of hacking, I should look into getting my stuff secure. Not sure what to look into though 

Get it organized first :)  As @Enderman said, if you have filenames that are over 250 bytes long, there are other issues than needing a new filesystem :P

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3 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Get it organized first :)  As @Enderman said, if you have filenames that are over 250 bytes long, there are other issues than needing a new filesystem :P

None of my file names or directory names are that long as far as I know, I'm pretty sure something like that would come to my attention. 

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1 minute ago, IAmLamp said:

None of my file names or directory names are that long as far as I know 

well that screenshot in the OP looked pretty cancer-inducing xD 

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1 minute ago, IAmLamp said:

Whoever said it was mine? 

I know it's not yours, but you said you were getting that error, so obviously some of your paths are a little excessive ;)

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3 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

I know it's not yours, but you said you were getting that error, so obviously some of your paths are a little excessive ;)

I have a ton of folders that help with getting things organized, I think that's what it is. A lot of clicking at times, but the sections that are clean are well done. Maybe the directories are overly detailed. At least there's an OS with a better solution out there 

 

thanks again

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1 minute ago, IAmLamp said:

I have a ton of folders that help with getting things organized, I think that's what it is. A lot of clicking at times, but the sections that are clean are well done. Maybe the directories are overly detailed. At least there's an OS with a better solution out there 

 

thanks again

Yeah that could be it.  Like we showed, having a long path in Windows causes problems, even if the filename itself is reasonable.

and no problem :)

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Posted

Just wondering if there would be something out there that could help bypass or get around the Windows file limitations, I need to get my data over to a different drive. I was thinking something like temporary use of Linux, but I'm not sure if that would work. 

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what do you mean by file limitations? why can't you just copy your files inside windows?

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Thats a very clarified file name, I would suggest just using batch to do a mass/bulk rename to shorten the names and avoid any future conflict. 

Something to just take the first 30 characters or first 40 if the file name already exist.

Other than that theres no real way to bypass a system limit like that, as the others mentioned in win10 you can change the pathname limit but not the filename limit.

As the others said, even linux at its 'core' level is 255 which means essentially the most you could have is 255 characters. The only difference is the path name won't count, so if any file is over 255 or less depending on the characters(special characters) then you'll have the same issue. You can try ubuntu from a flash drive (live). If it doesn't work then you're best option is a bult rename. 

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3 hours ago, RedWulf said:

Thats a very clarified file name, I would suggest just using batch to do a mass/bulk rename to shorten the names and avoid any future conflict. 

Something to just take the first 30 characters or first 40 if the file name already exist.

Other than that theres no real way to bypass a system limit like that, as the others mentioned in win10 you can change the pathname limit but not the filename limit.

As the others said, even linux at its 'core' level is 255 which means essentially the most you could have is 255 characters. The only difference is the path name won't count, so if any file is over 255 or less depending on the characters(special characters) then you'll have the same issue. You can try ubuntu from a flash drive (live). If it doesn't work then you're best option is a bult rename.

That's not my file.

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