Hi, I checked through your previous questions and answers, and I could not find my problem. My Problem: After copying just a few files over to a floppy disk, I keep getting this nasty message: Cannot copy (filename). The directory or file cannot be created. It copies about 66 files every time, regardless of space available on the floppy drive (1.4 MB) and then gives me the error message. Message: The directory or file cannot be created. This is a new problem. The computer used to copy more than 66 files. Lots and lots more. Any number of files, until floppy disk was packed full up with files. Long filenames and all. P.S. OS: Windows 98 DirectX Version: 9.0b System Memory: 128 MB Hard Drive Space: 11117/16464 MB CPU Speed: 449 MHz CPU Type: INTEL Pentium-III (stepping 2) CPU Features: MMX SSE Num Processors: 1 Have a Zip disk?: Yes (100 MB), and similar nasty problem. Regards, Steve

What is the name of the file it says can't be copied?

A 1.44 disk should be able to hold up to 224 files in the root directory. Using long file names will reduce that number. That's probably what's happening in your case. The solution is to create a directory on the disk and copy the files there. Check here for more info.

Copying the files to a directory instead of the root would allow you to exceed the 224 max file capacity but I'm not sure if it would fix the limited capacity due to using long file names. Post back with results if you try it that way.

I am having a problem transfering my MP3's from my computer into my MP3 player. I ran across this posting researching my problem. When I transfer it says Directory or file cannot be created. Any hints?

Hi DAVEINCAPS, and thanks for the responses. ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Response Number 1 Name: DAVEINCAPS Date: May 20, 2005 at 12:01:57 Pacific Subject: Directory or file cannot be created Reply: What is the name of the file it says can't be copied? Hi DAVEINCAPS, and thanks for the response. Any file name, short or long. oooooooooooooooooooo Response Number 2 Name: DAVEINCAPS Date: May 20, 2005 at 13:15:55 Pacific Subject: Directory or file cannot be created Reply: A 1.44 disk should be able to hold up to 224 files in the root directory. Using long file names will reduce that number. That's probably what's happening in your case. The solution is to create a directory on the disk and copy the files there. Check here for more info. Hi DAVEINCAPS, and thanks for the response. I used to create a directory on the zip disk and copy the files there. It did work, and I just tried it on a 1.44 MB floppy, and it's working fine, THANK YOU. I clicked where you suggested, and: http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/comp/fdd/fileFull-c.html I am trying to copy files to a floppy disk but it says it cannot copy even though the disk is not full Explanation: You are trying to copy a large number of files to a floppy disk but you are being told that you are "out of room" or simply not being allowed to copy more than a certain number to the disk. Diagnosis: The most common cause of this problem is filling up the root directory on the disk. The number of files that can be stored in the root directory of any disk is limited, because the root directory is the only one that cannot be expanded in size. The maximum number of entries depends on the type of disk but is generally 112 for the double-density drives and 224 for the high-density drives. The use of long file names can drastically reduce this number due to the fact that they use up directory entries to store the long names. (Note that all of this applies to hard disks as well but rarely is seen on hard disks since most files there are kept in subdirectories; floppies usually see most of their files in the root directory). Recommendation: * Simple solution: create a subdirectory and copy the files there. Subdirectories can be as large as will fit on the disk. * Avoid the use of long file names, especially in the root directory. * Consolidate the files into an archive, through the use of a utility like PKZIP. This also gives significant performance advantages, since it takes much less time to copy one large file from/to a floppy than to copy many smaller ones. * Bear in mind that floppy disks use clusters to store files, just as hard disks do. This is usually not a problem for floppy disks because the clusters are so small: only 512 or 1024 bytes (whereas hard disk cluster sizes can be as high as 32,768, so there is much more opportunity for lost space due to slack there). Still, if you think that you can fit 10,000 files that are only 100 bytes each onto a 1.44 MB floppy disk, you are going to be unpleasantly surprised before you get even close to halfway done (you can do this again by using an archive like PKZIP). THANKS AGAIN, VERY MUCH. ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Response Number 3 Name: DAVEINCAPS Date: May 20, 2005 at 22:44:10 Pacific Subject: Directory or file cannot be created Reply: Copying the files to a directory instead of the root would allow you to exceed the 224 max file capacity but I'm not sure if it would fix the limited capacity due to using long file names. Post back with results if you try it that way. Hi DAVEINCAPS, and thanks for the response. THANK YOU AGAIN. Steve

You're welcome. I take it the long file name copy limitation was the reason. Amanda, I'm not familiar with the process of copying mp3s to a player but I imagine the reason for the error is the same. The google search I used to find the floppy disk limitation turned up quite a few people having that problem when copying mp3s. If you are able to create a folder on the player and copy the songs there I'd think that would solve the problem.