WinXP copy filenames with paths longer than 255 chars

[ScottW]

So a friend of mine created thousands of filenames nested in deep subfolder paths, where the full file path ended up being more than 255 chars long. I've tried copying the files using the built-in copier as well as teracopy.. Windows fails on the first file that hits 255 chars saying the path/name is too long, and teracopy just skips them.

Is there a way around this? Doesn't NTFS support file paths longer than 255? Manually locating and renaming these files isn't an option.

[Steve R Jones]

Quote:

To resolve problems when the directory structure exceeds MAX_PATH, use either of the following methods:

On the server that contains the long directory structure, access these files and folders through a local redirection ("net use" or "subst") of the same share/folder that the network clients access across the network.

In Windows NT Explorer, select the folder one level above the folder that returns the error. Right-click the folder returning the error and then click Rename. Rename the folder to reduce the number of characters used in the folder name.
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Path too long error message when exceeding MAX_PATH

Just guessing here...I think you can:

SUBST C:\bla bla the long path name C:\NewFolderName

So you can access the files on a temp basis..A reboot would undo the subst command.