Preserving Filenames

Certain operations, such as copy, backup, and restore, using older versions of utilities that have not been updated to support long filenames will destroy the long filename. Running a utility called LFNBK that comes with Windows 95 before using older backup utilities will preserve the long filenames. Following are the steps for using LFNBK to backup and restore a disk:

1. Preserve the long filename and alias (the 8.3 filename) association by running LFNBK /b drive-letter, where drive-letter is the drive that you plan to back up.
2. Back up the drive (specified as drive-letter in the previous step) using an old backup program that is not be aware of long filenames.
3. Restore the backup files to a drive, when necessary at some later point, using an old restore program that is not be aware of long filenames.
4. Restore the long filenames on the drive, by running LFNBK /r drive-letter, where drive-letter is the drive where the files were restored to.