Friends, please forgive me if this topic has already been covered. I did a search through all forums for "long filename*" but there were no results addressing this topic. And let me admit right off that Ima Totalnewbie, having only dld LW about 5 days ago, so my learning curve has been fairly daunting given this is the very first p2p prog/service I've ever used. So please bear with me if I seem phenomenally dense about things that "everyone else" already knows.

Additionally, please allow me to address two points that are only vaguely related in this one message. The first point is a sincere question about a problem that I've had, and really need a solution for, and the second very nearly falls into the category of a rant about a practice I've seen countless times during the past few days. So here goes.

First, recently I dld a file that has a name that is (I'm guessing here) "too long" for my OS (WinXP, service pack 2). The file refuses to be renamed, or deleted, or anything else. Every attempt I've made at manipulating the file has failed. And what's really bizzare to me is that the right-click menu doesn't even have the "normal" options such as "copy", "rename", "delete", "properties", etc. Instead it only has a variety of options for playing and queing in WinAmp.

Ok, to tell you a bit more, the file is a video clip, but through either malicious intent, or simple ignorance, has about 5 ending "extensions". In other words, the last bit of the filename ends in ".mpg.mpeg.avi.mpg.jp". I can think of a few ways this can happen through sheer ignorance (such as by people saving and resaving the file), so maybe it was not done with malicious intent. However, be that as it may, I don't know for sure if the problem Ima having is a result of so many confusing "extensions", or if it is purely a matter of the file name being "too long" (I can't count the full name, but it's easily a few lines long in the tooltip inside LW). Likewise, Ima clueless as to why the right-click menu won't show the "normal" options.

Oh, and also just to clarify, I've tried using every option I can think of in Win Explorer to rename or delete, or move the file. Including trying to move it to the trashcan, and using shift-delete after highlighting the filename. Absolutely nothing works. Additionally I even tried to get wonderful little utility "eraser" to wipe out the file, eraser wont touch it. All in all this has been very frustrating.

So, my actual question is, does ANYONE know of ANY utility that I can use that may allow me to kill/rename/move/etc this file. Just today I've dld a hex editor from download.com that claims to be able to allow me to directly edit the disk information. But last time I used such tools (over 10 years ago) the only thing they let a person edit was the file data, and not the directory structure. My hope was that maybe I could find something that might let me directly edit the filename directory entry, shorten it, and then do as I wish with the file. But honestly that seems like a absolute last resort, and quite honestly, Ima more than a bit scared about the real possibility of serious damage to the directory/file structure due to simple ignorance on my part of not knowing that I need to "update" some other areas when making changes the physical filename on the disk. Many years ago, I was a bonified expert on my OS of choice (Amiga), but that was a long time ago, and I have to assume that the directory structure of WinXP is vastly more complex than what I once worked with.

Anyway, I could go on with my rambleing thoughts on the above, but bottom line is I'd really appreciate any help that comes to mind on how to either delete or "fix" this file.

Ok, second topic is a bit more of a rant. So for those of you who dont want to read such things, move onto the next message.

Ok, am I the only one who is scratching my head and more than a little miffed at the way some people are deliberately giving files names that are 100% wrong and misleading? Ok, let me lay my cards on the table, Yeah, I dl porn. So to lots of you respectable folks Ima real lowlife pond scum. So, now that we have established and are agreed on that, let me continue.

To avoid encouraging you to think even worse of me than you already do, I won't give any actual names of files that I've dld, but let me make up some names. Say for example that I dl a vid that is named "two monkeys having sex with a orangatang", but when I actually dl the file, its one dog licking himself. (I assure you these examples are PURELY made up. ) My point is that Ima utterly stupified as to why someone would name a file with a description that is so obviously and DELIBERATELY MISLEADING. In many cases the names are not correct in even one single item.

Recently I've learned to use bitzi to look for clues as to what the real content may be, and in doing so I see that some suggested names are fairly close to correct. So that helps alot. But given as how Ima on a dial-up that refuses to log-in at anything over 28.8, and my computer is a dinosaur using only a 400mhz PII, the process of loading each bitzi window is quite slow and tedious.

So, my rant is to say that it really ticks me off when some parties rename files to be DELIBERATELY MISLEADING, and each night so far I've spent a few mins cursing to the walls about it. (which is not really very satisfying, and why I decided to bitch about it here where someone could see it ).

But more to the point, Ima really very sincerly curious WHY people would do this? And clearly its not just "a few" people, because it seems that (in my very UNofficial survey) the percent of deliberately misleading filenames is well over 60%, and may be as high as 80% (Of course, Ima refering to porn, perhaps MP3's and other file types don't suffer from this idiocy) For me, when I get the files, I immediately rename them to the most appropriate title I can think of, and even try to include the time-length of the file at its end (ex: "Dog licking himself - golden retriever, 6m24s")

Oh, and that reminds me of a subtopic to this rant. It seems to me that the same people who are misnaming the files, are also including every possible keyword they can imagine to make thier file show up in every conceivable search. For example, if the filename is "two monkeys having sex with a orangatang", the poster adds at the end (often, after several dead spaces so its not immediately seen) a list of words such as "elephants, swans, baby seals, atom bombs, martians" and on and on and on. Which is why this rant is vaguely related to the first question above. Because when these bogus search terms are added, the filename can become so long as to create the problem I have above where I can't do a darn thing with the file I've just dld. It just sits there in the "incomplete" directory. (This is especially true when I try to do a "preview" while the file is dl'ing, since the filename is lengthened by the prepending of "Preview-T-####### ".)

Recently, in an attempt to avoid this whole problem of gargantuan filenames, I have begun to select "Download As" and rename the file to get rid of all the garbage. That has worked in most cases, but then recently it didn't, and I ended up with LW using the posted huge name as it dld to the incomplete directory.

Oh, if my in the event that my quota of your patience is not long since passed, let me add one last thing. Using the "Download As" seems to work fine if Ima sure that I will dl the file in one sitting. But I share this phone with others, so I must disconnect during the daytime. And typically, I like to reboot daily just to keep XP on its toes and not have any ghosts in the machine floating around. And what I've found is that when LW loads back up, and I tell it to resume a dl, it can't find the original file, even though I can clearly see it. In other words, LW uses the filename saved in the incomplete directory to when it tries to resume, and since i've changed the name, then any file that is partially dld wont resume, and I have to start all over again. So, using download as solves one problem, but creates another when a dl is renamed and not completed.

Well friends, I know I've taken WAYYYYYY too much of your valuable time. I know I tend to be a little verbose. I hope you can forgive an old man for running on and on. And likewise, I really hope some one can offer advice on my first question, as well as constructive/informative feedback on my latter two items. I welcome your thoughtful comments, and feel free to flame at me all you like for being either so dumb, or so verbose.

Take care, and don't take any wooden nickels.

Later,
Ima Sloetyper

Hi Imasloetyper

I may have a solution for your undeletable file with a long name:

First, copy everything out of your target directory/folder, except the undeletable file, to a new directory/folder.

Second, delete the entire target directory/folder. This process will get rid of most undeletable files.

Third, rename your new folder, with the copied files, to the same name of the folder you have just deleted, that way everything on your PC's HD will be back to normal.

As for files on the P2P network with wrong names, well that is the nature of the beast because no one can stop you, me or anyone else renaming our files with false names. I hate as much as you do but I am afraid we are stuck with it.

And, by the way, welcome to the world of P2P, hope you enjoy it.



UK Bob

Hi Bob,

I want to thank you for taking the time to offer a really good idea.

Funny thing though. I was just about to attempt it, and was in the process of selecting the other files, when suddenly the file in question just disappeared, and hasn't been seen since. Very Strange! Never seen anything like that before. And it wasn't just a "ghost" of the bad file that had been hanging around, cuz prior to this it had shown up across multiple reboots and even power ups/downs. Also, prior to when this occured, I had repeatedly accessed (moved, renamed, deleted, etc) other files in this same directory, so its very odd that this one particular time of accessing files in this directory the "bad" file would suddenly vanish, when it had not done so when I'd previously accessed/manipulated so many other files in the same directory. Like I said, Very Strange.

Anyway, again I want to think you very much Bob for your intelligent suggestion. At least next time I'll try that first before I go around trying to download hex editors for my hard drive!

Take care friend, and have a great holiday!

As for me, I got my xmas gift early... Cable Modem! <Yipee!> Unfortunately, I spent 3 hours on the phone today talking to tech support (plus a second trip down to the local cable office to replace a brand new - but totally defective cable modem) only to discover that there is some sort of problem between their office and my house. So, now I get to wait an additional 3 days to wait for a tech to come out and test the line and wave his magic wand to get everything working. Soooo... Poor me, I'm sitting here looking longingly at my brand new cable modem box, but still on a crappy dial-up line that invariably tops out around 28.8kbs <sigh> <laughing>

Well, enough boring you for now. I've gotta go and hog tie a few more bits.

Later...
Ima Sloetyper