Choose Your Short Filenames
| Intended For |
 Windows Me
Windows 98
Windows 95 |
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When you try to open a file with a long filename in an older 16-bit Windows or DOS application, the filename is trucated to the old 8.3 standard.
That is, a file named A Big Blob.TXT will appear as ABIGBL~1.TXT.
You can configure Windows to drop the ~1 suffix from short filenames, making them more accurate to their long counterparts.
Solution #1 (more permanent):
- Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
- Open HKEY_LOCAN_MACHINE\ System\ CurrentControlSet\ control\ FileSystem.
- Select New from the Edit menu, and then choose Binary Value.
- Type NameNumericTail and press Enter.
- Double click on the value, enter 0 (zero), and press Ok.
- Every successive long filename with a short name the same as an existing file in that directory will have the numeric suffix, though.
- Note: Several users have reported unpleasant side-effects with this solution, so use with caution (try backing up first).
Solution #2 (less permanent):
- Using a 16-bit application, create a document with a short filename, such as ABIGBLOB.TXT.
- Then, in Explorer, rename the file to A Big Blob that ate Manhattan.TXT, or something like that.
- Instead of ABIGBL~1.TXT, you'll see the same, original 8.3 filename.
- If the long filename is too different, this won't work.
- Note: In a related discussion, you might notice that there's no way to have a filename with fewer than eight letters be all upper case, because Windows thinks it's a short filename. To get around this, try inserting a space somewhere into the filename.
- Note: use Solution #1 with caution - some 16-bit applications might not work with truncated filenames.
Written by: Annoyances.org
Last updated: Friday, August 10, 2001
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