Long Dir/File Names Not Supported by CreateFile to Open VxDs

SUMMARY

To dynamically load your VxD in Windows 95, you can use CreateFile as documented in the Win32 SDK; follow this structure:

   Guides
      Programmer's Guide to Windows 95
         Using Windows 95 Features
            Device I/O Control
               Input and Output Control in Applications
                  Opening the VxD.
				

This section of the Win32 SDK states:

You can specify the path to the dynamically loadable VxD explicitly. For example, a 32-bit application can load a VxD named Driver.vxd in the C:\Mydir directory by using the following call. Note that The CREATE_NEW flag is not necessary.

    hCVxD = CreateFile("\\\\.\\C:\\MYDIR\\DRIVER.VXD", 0,0,0,
                        CREATE_NEW, FILE_FLAG_DELETE_ON_CLOSE, 0);
				

In your CreateFile call, you can only use directory names and file names that have eight or fewer characters with extensions of three or fewer characters. Long names prevent the VxD from loading.

You can make use of long directory names by using the search path instead of explicitly specifying the path in the CreateFile call. You may include long directory names in your Autoexec.bat "PATH=" statement, restarting the computer to make the new path effective.