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Copy Profile fails "Can't create file/folder"

  • 4 replies
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  • Last reply by Matt

Rich-J
Rich-J
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I need to copy an entire profile to another PC.

Copy the profile dir always fails with multiple "Can't create file/folder" errors.

I have used a file manager, XCopy with "continue if errors" switch and restoring from a system backup.

The restore appears to be OK, it writes all the files it backed up (backups don't show errors), but the copy still fails in about the same place (about 1/2 way through).

Looking at the folders/files in the profile, there are some zero length folders and files. Is this a problem?

The disk are not full (lots of room!) and chkdsk shows no errors.

Any ideas?

Richard

I need to copy an entire profile to another PC. Copy the profile dir always fails with multiple "Can't create file/folder" errors. I have used a file manager, XCopy with "continue if errors" switch and restoring from a system backup. The restore appears to be OK, it writes all the files it backed up (backups don't show errors), but the copy still fails in about the same place (about 1/2 way through). Looking at the folders/files in the profile, there are some zero length folders and files. Is this a problem? The disk are not full (lots of room!) and chkdsk shows no errors. Any ideas? Richard

All Replies (4)

Matt
Matt
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Could it be you have hit the 255 character limit on path+File name that windows imposes and most people are unaware of?

I have heard of this particularly with the mosmsg folder contents (which are not used for anything but windows search BTW) But just going to a new device where your user name goes from being "owner" to "RichardJonahWilliamsIII" can push what was previously hovering on the limit to over it.

Rich-J
Rich-J Question owner
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Matt said

Could it be you have hit the 255 character limit on path+File name that windows imposes and most people are unaware of?

Matt, thanks for the quick reply.

I did notice some very long names, but I am copying to a drive on the same machine before transferring it.

Also, the backup software did not complain, but the problem persists.

Richard

Rich-J
Rich-J Question owner
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Update:

I have resolved this issue by using a backup created on the old machine and then restored to the new machine. Since the backup restore the full tree I did have to move the files to the correct folder which appears to have been successful (no error messages and all data are appears to be intact).

I really have no idea what the real problem is but I'm not convinced it's "file name too long" as the files were written by Thunderbird on the drive in the first place.

Richard

Matt
Matt
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Thunderbird can create files with a path longer than Windows explorer can copy. I have seen a number of instances (usually in the windows search folders with mozeml files) where windows can not create a copy of the folder tree Thunderbird creates.

I assume Thunderbird is using the updated widows APIs that allow more than 255 character path/file names. See here for a discussion of the lifting of the windows limit. https://winaero.com/blog/how-to-enable-ntfs-long-paths-in-windows-10/