Error " Path too deep " while copying

[Anwar]

Hey Everyone,

I'm running Windows Xp Service Pack 2 on my system. Whenever i'm trying to copy any folder which contains more than 150 Gb from my USB drive it shows me an error message stating that the "path is too deep" to copy. I think there is a limitation on the character, but i don't think that there is any limitation on the individual file or folder. I try to format my USB drive with FAT32 and by keeping the server volume to NTFS. Does any one have any idea how do i get rid of this problem? Any kind of help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Calvin K]

It is mostly caused by having over 256 characters in the path. You have to remember that although the SHARE name is only for example \\server\RecordedTV, the actual folder on the WHS box is probably something like the following due to the way Drive Extender handles the data.:

C:\fs\4\DE\folders\{00008086-058D-4C89-AB57-A7F909A47AB4}

OR

C:\fs\D\DE\folders\{00008086-058D-4C89-AB57-A7F909A47AB4}

So as you can see, with the above path, your directory and file naming can easily go over the 256 permitted characters.

[MrChris-]

I found an acceptable workaround to the problem. I removed one of my drives from the WHS storage pool and gave it its own drive letter. I then created a shared folder on that drive and was able to successfully copy all of my large files to this share with no problems. Of course, since this drive is not part of the WHS storage pool, the shared folder cannot be managed using the WHS management console and I can't take advantage of other nifty WHS features such as duplication. But neither of these limitations is really an issue for me since I can easily manage the share via Remote Desktop, and I wouldn't have enabled duplication for these files anyway because of their size.

The best part is that this change is completely transparent to all of the client PCs on the network. They simply see this new shared folder as a standard SMB file share, no different than any of the standard WHS share folders. So whenever the WHS team fixes this problem, I can add the drive back to the storage pool and create the share within WHS without needing to change anything on any of the client PCs.

[Lillebror]

You can try specifying the adapter connect speed (both ends) instead of using autodetect. Again with wireless, try setting the the connection type b/g etc, instead of auto detect as for the usb. I would try zipping the problem folders up , transferring the zip file over, and unzipping in the appropriate place.

[gishas]

I got the same message recently and installed "Long Path Tool" program which solved the problem.