Knowledge Base

File and Dir. Names with Caps Show Both 8.3 and Long Filenames

Article ID: 114349

Article Last Modified on 10/31/2006

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5
Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5

This article was previously published under Q114349

SUMMARY

On a FAT disk partition, file and directory names containing uppercase characters (for example, Test, teSt, and TEST) show up in File Manager as both a long filename and a DOS 8.3 filename. The DOS 8.3 filename is visible when the DOS Filename option is enabled from the Partial File Details option of the View menu or when the All File Details option is chosen from the View menu.

MORE INFORMATION

The MS-DOS FAT file system normally only stores names in uppercase. When you create a file or directory with mixed case, Windows NT stores that name in the long name space to preserve the case. This necessitates the creation of a short name. To illustrate, from a command prompt, type:

   copy con TeSt.TXT
   This is a test file. <Ctrl-Z>
   dir /x

   ..............  TEST.TXT         TeSt.TXT

Additional query words: lfn prodnt

Keywords: kbother KB114349