The information in this article applies to:
SYMPTOMS
You may receive an error message when you create a file or folder in the
root directory. The exact error message depends on the method used to
create the file or folder.
WordPad and Paint report the following when saving a file to the root
directory:
When you try to create a new folder in the root directory in My Computer
or Windows Explorer, you receive the following error message:
NOTE: This information is accurate for a standard file allocation table 16 (FAT16) file system, but does not apply to a FAT32 file system. For more information about FAT32, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q154997 Description of FAT32 File System CAUSEThis problem occurs when all 512 root directory entries have been used. This problem can also occur with fewer than 512 files and folders in the root directory because Windows 95 uses additional directory entries to store long file names. STATUS
To ensure compatibility with MS-DOS, Windows 95 uses a standard file
allocation table (FAT) file system. The root directory for a FAT drive has
a fixed size and is stored in a fixed location on the disk. All hard disk
drives use 32 sectors of 512 bytes each to store the root directory. This
limits the root directory on a hard disk drive to 16K: 32 sectors x 512
bytes per sector = 16,384 bytes, or 16K.
RESOLUTIONUse the following steps to free root directory entries:
MORE INFORMATION
An MS-DOS FAT root directory contains a separate entry for every file and
folder it contains. These directory entries contain information such as
the file name, extension, attributes, time and date the file was last
modified, the starting cluster number, and the file size. Each directory
entry uses 32 bytes to store this information. Because the root directory
is 16K in size, it can contain a maximum of 512 directory entries, which
are 32 bytes each.
Windows 95 file names are not case sensitive, but the case is preserved.
The primary file names can include upper, lower, or mixed-case characters.
For example, you can name a file "MyText.txt" and the file system
preserves the case formatting.
If the file name is not 8.3-compliant, Windows 95 automatically generates an 8.3 alias for the file name. An additional directory entry is used to store the 8.3 alias. If the primary file name contains more than 13 characters, an additional directory entry is used. The following table shows some primary file names, their 8.3 aliases, and directory entry usage in Windows 95:
NOTE: Any file whose name contains more than 13 characters requires 3 or
more directory entries.
Additional query words: lfns ldns vfat VM wwt fat root limit
Keywords : lfn diskmem win95 |
Last Reviewed: May 25, 1999 © 2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use. |