Windows 10: Why Does Windows 10 Abbreviate File Names?

I've used Linux for about five years and just switched to Windows 10, and it seems that file names are being abbreviated by the new system. This was obvious when I copied some document files to the new system, and not recognizing my files is rather disorienting. I know that DOS had a limit on the number of characters in a file name, but I can't believe that's still the case. Is there a way to show the full names, or did Windows do a permanent rename?

:)

 

Windows 10 Pros and Cons

Am using Windows 7 and received notice of FREE Window 10 upgrade reservation. Says it is not an abbreviated copy. Are there any reasons of why or why not I should do the download? Can't imagine MS giving anything away free. Thanks

 

Edit N73 User Dictionary

Is there a directory in the phone memory called 'predic'? (you need 3rd party software to see this directory if it is there).

If it is there you can find a .dat file wich contains all abbreviations. You can copy this file to another directory and rename it .txt. Now you can edit the file and afterwards rename it to .dat again. Keep a copy of the original .dat file if this does not
work.

Another option would be to delete the whole .dat file but then you need to enter all your abbreviations again.

Good luck!

 

I guess, that you are referring to NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation
It should not change the name of files, not that 10 would even support 16-bit.
But you can always try to run CMD as admin and enter the command, then restart.

reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem" /v "NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

 

Can you provide some examples please?

 

Please post a screenshot showing the issue. Otherwise it is all just guesswork.
Short file names are what they are and cannot be changed. Any changes would have massive compatibility problems.

 

My guess is that in File Explorer you are seeing what appears to be shortened names but the Columns are too narrow. Move the mouse pointer to the Name heading then carefully move it to the right until it turns to a 2-headed arrow. Click at that point the drag it to the right to widen the column. You can also double-click at the same point to widen the column to the width of the longest file name in that Folder. There's other things you can do with the columns such as rearranging by newest or oldest date, alphabetically A to Z or Z to A, rearrange by size of files, largest to smallest or other way around, etc. A lot of that ability suggests what can be done in a spreadsheet.

As for the actual length, DOS uses the 8.3 scheme, up to 8 characters for the name and up to 3 characters for the extension. Windows 95 introduced LFN/Long File Names and the use of up to about 256 characters but also kept the 8.3 scheme for compatibility with DOS [stored both names on the hard drive].