In a batch file, if I write "copy C:\My Documents\testfile.txt C:\" the response is 'Too many parameters' if I write "copy C:\My Doc~1\testfile.txt C:\" the response is 'Too many parameters' if I write "copy C:\My_Doc~1\testfile.txt C:\" the response is 'File not found' How should 'My Documents' be scripted to 'work' in a batch file ? Basty

This is more of a post for the Windows forums, but I'm feeling nice tonight. copy "C:\My Documents\testfile.txt" c:\ copy C:\MYDOCU~1\testfile.txt c:\

Nice-feeling-tonight Razor2.3 I WILL try - but you seem to imply that spaces can just be ignored IN THIS CONTEXT. Basty

Sebastian You will notice that in the first example posted by Razor C:\My Documents\testfile.txt is enclosed in double quotes which forces the processor to treat the entire path name as a single entity. Without he quotes the spaces become a delimiter. Hence the to many parameters. In the second example the first six characters of My Documents, minus spaces are used plus ~1 to give the short file name of eight characters. You can't arbitrarily make up your own short name. You have to use the one generated by the system which follows a well defined set of rules which includes the elimination of spaces. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/142982 Stuart

StuartS Thanks for drawing my attention to that - it had escaped me ! I was a bit puzzled by that cryptic reply. I AM aware of DOS's (?) habit of truncating long names at the sixth letter then, adding '~1' Basty

>>I AM aware of DOS's (?) habit ... << It's not DOS's habit, its Window's that does it by design. DOS has no knowlege or understanding of long file names. That is why Windows has to truncate them. Stuart