Can't access files with names too long

I have some files on a Windows formatted external hard drive that have filenames that seem to be too long for OS X to handle. I can't open them, nor can I delete them. I can't even seem to "rm" them from the command line. I know they're there, and not just some bitwise mirage. Does anyone have any way to deal with these files (they're 0 bytes long, as far as the Finder is concerned, and if you click on them, they disappear)?

MacOS X supports file names of 256 characters (or is it 255?). Are your files names longer then that? If not, then I would suspect the problem is somewhere else, probably permissions.
When you try to rm the file, does it produce an error? If so, what is it?

Similar Messages

File name too long cannot copy (cont'd)

This is a continuation of the post started September 01, 2009, with the last post on
October 17, 2011 named File name too long cannot copy
Since this is an ongoing unsolved issue, and the thread was locked, it continues here.
It is ever so easy to create a long file/path using explorer.exe as will be shown below.
What needs to be solved is, what is an easy way (no, not by listing out all the files in a directory to a text file and counting characters), perhaps using a shell extension, to find out which files in a directory and it's subdirectories will be (or were)
too long to copy, (and then perhaps even copying those over either intact or renamed)?
Maflagulator said:
I'm running the 7100 build...enjoying it except for one big thing:
While attempting to copy 402gb from my main storage volume onto a spare 500gb drive (for the purpose of changing to a new RAID array) I've come across something that I would expect a Windows 98 OS to give me.
It tells me that a file has TOO LONG of a file name, then provides with two unhelpful options: SKIP or CANCEL
I never had XP give me an issue like this at all, so what gives? And while some specific files did have long file names (such as for songs, etc.) it had 7 issues with folders stating that their name was too long, but in fact they were not since they were
titled '07-06-07' for the date that I dumped the audio files in them. However, they may have contained FILES with long file names though.
Anyone else get this same situation? Perhaps the RTM version does not do this? Can anyone verify this regarding their install of the RC or the RTM?
It made it through 400gb out of the 402gb transfer.
I'm just happy to see that it doesn't spazz out about an issue like this until it has done all the other transfers that it can do because it saves the issues it has with files until the very end. In XP it would spazz about it the moment it came across it
causing the transfer process to halt.
Since long path/file names can so easily be created on Win7, it might be useful to see a typical way this happens, which might then give clues how to work with them.
In Windows Vista, we learnt from:
File names and file name extensions: frequently asked questions that:
Windows usually limits file names to 260 characters. But the file name must actually be shorter than that, since the complete path (such as C:\Program Files\filename.txt) is included in this character count.
In Windows 7, we are told here:
File names and file name extensions: frequently asked questions that:
It depends on the length of the complete path to the file (such as C:\Program Files\filename.txt). Windows limits a single path to 260 characters. This is why you might occasionally get an error when copying a file with a very long file name to a location
that has a longer path than the file's original location.
From the Windows Dev Center - Desktop, we read about Maximum Path Length Limitation here:
Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces
This helps us understand why a folder can be a maximum of 244 characters, from the defined 260 length of MAX_PATH as follows:
260 minus C:\ (3) minus <NUL> (1) = 256
256 minus 8.3 file name (12) = 244
We also learn there that: The Windows API has many functions that also have Unicode versions to permit an extended-length path for a maximum total path length of 32,767 characters.
And we read the claim that: The shell and the file system have different requirements. It is possible to create a path with the Windows API that the shell user interface is not be able to interpret properly.
There is also a comment below this document that reads: In a previous iteration of this document, it is mentioned that The Unicode versions of several functions permit a maximum path length of approximately 32,000 characters composed of components up to
255 characters in length. This information is now gone.
So we are in a position where the file system and Windows API can create long path/flies that the shell cannot handle.
But then we need to be able to handle it, so a little exploration might lead to a better understanding of how to do this.
For most tasks being performed on long folder/files, Windows 7 and other Windows programs balk when the Path+Filename length > 260
Let's create a long path/file.
Create a folder called A at the root of a Drive.
Create a sub-folder of A called: B
Create a sub-folder of B called: C
Make a FILE in sub-folder C called (no spaces or break, one long continuous string): 123456789A123456789B123456789C123456789D123456789E123456789F123456789G123456789H123456789I123456789J 123456789K123456789L123456789M123456789N123456789O123456789P123456789Q123456789R123456789S123456789T
123456789U123456789V123456789W123456789X123456.txt
Rename sub-folder C to the string (no spaces or break, one long continuous string) (The actual directory created will be slightly shorter than this full length): 123456789A123456789B123456789C123456789D123456789E123456789F123456789G123456789H123456789I123456789J
123456789K123456789L123456789M123456789N123456789O123456789P123456789Q123456789R123456789S123456789T 123456789U123456789V123456789W123456789X123456789Y123456789Z
Rename sub-folder B to the same full string above. (The actual directory created will be slightly shorter than this full length but 2 characters longer than the step above.)
Rename folder A to that same full original string. (Again the actual directory created will be slightly shorter than this full length but 2 characters longer than the step above.)
You now have the lovely file placed at (the breaks are just so it fits into the screen):
C:\123456789A123456789B123456789C123456789D123456789E123456789F123456789G123456789H123456789I123456789J 123456789K123456789L123456789M123456789N123456789O123456789P123456789Q123456789R123456789S123456789T 123456789U123456789V123456789W123456789X1234\ 123456789A123456789B123456789C123456789D123456789E123456789F123456789G123456789H123456789I123456789J
123456789K123456789L123456789M123456789N123456789O123456789P123456789Q123456789R123456789S123456789T 123456789U123456789V123456789W123456789X12\ 123456789A123456789B123456789C123456789D123456789E123456789F123456789G123456789H123456789I123456789J 123456789K123456789L123456789M123456789N123456789O123456789P123456789Q123456789R123456789S123456789T
123456789U123456789V123456789W123456789X\ 123456789A123456789B123456789C123456789D123456789E123456789F123456789G123456789H123456789I123456789J 123456789K123456789L123456789M123456789N123456789O123456789P123456789Q123456789R123456789S123456789T 123456789U123456789V123456789W123456789X123456.txt
You have a folder length of over 700 and a file length of over 250 for a total of over 950
However you will notice that each folder, when created, could only be a maximum of 247 charachters including the path (example C:\ , & C:\A , & C:\A\B
This only applies backwards, that is up the path. It did not matter what was further down the path.
Now, you can't easily access or rename the file, but you can rename the folders easily.
For best results, start renaming from the top of the Tree, working down the subfolders, because renaming from down up will limit you, and in fact won't work if the folder lengths are too long.
So how might knowing this help us?
Well, to copy this long_file from the C:\ drive to the D:\ drive, and keeping the path structure, this should work:
Note the name of the top folder. Rename it to something very short, say: A (Make sure C:\A does not exist)
Note the name of the 2nd folder. Rename it to something very short, say: B (Make sure C:\A\B does not exist)
Note the name of the 3rd folder. Rename it to something very short, say: C (Make sure C:\A\B\C does not exist)
Make sure D:\A does not exist - then copy the A folder on disk C: to disk D: (which gives you D:\A\B\C\long_file
Rename D:\A\B\C to D:\A\B\Original_3rd_Folder_name
Rename D:\A\B to D:\A\B\Original_2nd_Folder_name
Rename D:\A to D:\Original_top_Folder_name
Rename C:\A\B\C back to their original names, in this same reverse order starting with C, then B, then A
Note: If using Explorer, at some points you might have to press the F5 refresh key.
This is of course how you might copy such long path/files without using the other more "easy" techniques for the "normal" everyday user like:
sharing a sub-folder
using the commandline to assign a drive letter by means of SUBST
using AddConnectionunder VB to assign a drive letter to a path
using the "\\?\" prefix to a path string to tell the Windows APIs to disable all string parsing and to send the string that follows it straight to the file system
and so on.
See how simple Windows can be for Dummies!
But then, how can we know that files to be copied exceed this MAX_PATH? Or also after a copy has taken place, know exactly which files that have NOT been copied because of exceeding the MAX_PATH limit, and then a procedure to copy these either by renaming
them, or by copying them intact as they are?
There have been suggestions to use
LongPathTool, but this does not have a facility to check a series of folders and tell you which files are going to be caught by the error when copying. So once a copy has taken place using Windows 7, one does not know which files did not get copied, and
where exactly they are located.
Neither does the free
Old Path Scanner do that. It can only check for overly long directory paths, but misses out when the directory path is within limits, but adding in the file name puts it out of bounds.
So, as shown above, it is ever so easy to create a long file/path using explorer.exe
So, what then is an easy way (no, not by listing out all the files in a directory to a text file and counting characters), perhaps using a shell extension, to find out which files in a directory and it's subdirectories will be (or were) too long to copy,
(and then perhaps even copying those over either intact or renamed)?

This is a not a "solution" ....but a "work around": a low tech fix....for error message "your file name is too long to be copied, deleted, renamed, moved" :
1.   problem is this: the "file name" has a limit on number of characters.....the sum of characters really includes the entire path name; you gotta shorten it first (i.e, if the total number of characters in the file name + Path name are over the
limit, the error appears). The deeper your file folder sub levels are, the more this problem will come up, especially when you copy to a subfolder of a subfolder/subfolder of another path ...adds to character limit)
2. How do you know which combined file names + path names are too long if you are in the middle of a copy operation and this error pops up? Some files copied but the "long files error message" says "skip" or "cancel" ... but not which
files are the "too long" ones. If you hit "skip" or "cancel" the "too long" files are left behind...but are mixed in with non-offender "good" "short name" files.   Sorting thru 1000s of "good" files to find a few "bad" ones manually is impractical.
3.   Here's how you sort out the "bad" from the "good":
4.    Let's say you want to copy a folder ..."Football" ...that has five layers of subfolders; each subfolder contains numerous files:
C:/1 Football / 2 teams/ 3 players/ 4 stats/ 5 injuriessidelineplayerstoolong
       There are five levels root "1 football" with subfolders 2, 3, 4 and lastly "5 injuries"
5.    Use "cut" and "paste" (for example to backup all five levels to a new backup folder):
       select "1 football" ....cut....select target folder....paste
       ("cut" command means as the files are copied to the target destination, the file is deleted from the source location)
      Hint: avoid "cut" and "paste" to a target folder that is itself a sub/sub/sub folder ...that compounds the "characters over the limit" problem ...because the characters in the sub/sub/sub folder are included in the "file name
character limit"...instead "paste" to a C:/ root directory.
       Suppose in the middle of this operation...error pops up: "5 files have file names that are too long" Skip or cancel?
       select "skip" ...and let operation finish
6.    Now go back and look at the source location: since the software allows only the "good" "short name" files to be copied (and because you "skipped" the "bad" "Long name" files so they are not copied or deleted) ...all that remains
in the source location are the "bad" "long name files" (because "good" ones were deleted from the source location after the "cut" operation...the bad ones stick out like a sore thumb.
7.   You will find ....all that remains in source folders are: the "bad" "too long" files; in this example the "bad" file is in level 5:
      C:/ 1 football / 2 teams /3 players /4 stats /5 injuriessidelineplayerstoolong
8.   select folder 5 injuriessidelineplayerstoolong (that's right...select folder, not file) gotta rename the folder first.
9. hit F2 rename folder..folder name highlighted...delete some of the letters in the folder name:
       like this:   5 injuriessidelineplayers ....you should delete 'toolong'....from the folder name
10. then go into folder 5....and do the same operation ...with the too long file name:
        hit F2 rename file....file name hightlighted...delete some of the letters
           like this: injuriessidelineplayers.....you should delete 'toolong' from the file name
11. Now..."cut and paste" the renamed file to the target backup folder.
The Error message will pop up again if you missed any "bad" files....for example, it will indicate "5 files too long" ....then repeat process 5 times until you fix all of them
12.    Finally, copy the target destination files back to the source location (when you are certain all source location file folder locations are empty)
Of course, this "makeshift" solution would not be necessary if MSFT would fix the problem...

Disk Utility (10.5.6) error: File name too long

Hello, here is one for you all...
I am in the midst of creating a new "build image" so I can start deploying Leopard.
Before I upgraded the build to 10.5.6 I was able to create a disk image of this build machine.
After updating it to 10.5.6 and all of the current Apple updates I am no long able to create a disk image.
I keep getting an error several minutes into the imaging process that says +"*File name too long".*+
I've run permission repair on the disk and Disk Warrior with still no luck. I've also used different machines and a boot FireWire drive to make he image and still have had no luck. I can use CCC to clone my Master build to another machine but I need to be able to make an image of it.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Bear in mind that in Unix, a file name includes the path, so if you have a very deep file or perhaps some kind of infinite recursive link, that might cause the problem, since that would make the file name very long indeed.
This may not be the problem you are having, but it just came to my mind when I read your post

How can I see file with chinese name in Sunray USB storage?

hi, All
I installed Sunray4u3 on Solaris0805. the application server is win2003EE.
I accessed usb storage from win2003, but I can only see files with English name , and could not see files with chinese name. Why? who can help?
best regards
xiong wei

You might want to make sure your credit card is listed in the billing information associated with your Apple ID (see http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1918).
Also, to change the From name that appears when you address emails on and iOS device, go to Settings>Mail,Contacts,Calendars...tap your iCloud email account, tap you iCloud account at the top, tap Mail at the bottom, then enter the name you want to use in the Name field at the top.
To change the From name on your Mac Mail, go to icloud.com, sign into your account, open Mail, click the gear shaped icon on the bottom left and choose Preferences, go to the Accounts tab and enter the name you want to use in the Full Name field and click Done. Then quit Mail on your Mac and re-open it. Your new From name should now appear in the drop-down list when you compose a new email.

File communication channel issue : object name too long

Hi Experts,
My requirement is to place the successful files in folder and un-successful files in one folder after processing.
we used parameterized mapping to achieve this requirement.
I'm facing below issues, please help me to resolve.
" An error occurred while connecting to the FTP server. The FTP server returned the following error message: 'com.sap.aii.adapter.file.ftp.FTPEx: 501 Unexpected reply codeSpecified object name too long, limit is 10 characters: $Filepath_Su.'. For details, contact your FTP server vendor.
As per my understanding it is not taking the path specified,because of length issue.
Please send me your valuable inputs and help me.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Regards
Bhargava Krishna

Hello,
By loking ur error description, it's quite evident that it's a FTP sever issue?
Sometime on FTP server, there is a check which is enabled to limit the length of file names, and i think the same has been recently implemented on ur FTP server. So instead of changing ur config, check with ur FTP admin.
Tested the same after tweaking existing FTP server settings.
Thanks
Amit Srivastava

"Maximum number of application files exceeded or file names too long"...help!!!

Hi there…
I am trying to create a game for my mobile.
The “problem” is that I have more than 500 swfs that I want to pack using the Adobe Mobile Packager. And I am getting this error:
“Maximum number of application files exceeded or file names too long”
How could I solve this problem?
Thanks everyone!
Cheers.
Leo.

500?? What are there so many files?
The problem is that the CAB format only allows for 300 files maximum, so there's nothing that we can do about that I'm afraid.
Mark
www.flashmobileblog.com

JAXB: Error compiling classes generated by xjc (file name too long)

Hi friends,
I am trying to compile classes that are generated by using XJC tool on xsd file. The compilation fails with following message.
buildxsdmodel:
    [javac] Compiling 794 source files to /home/uchamad/working/teleworker/ejb/build/classes
    [javac] /home/uchamad/working/teleworker/ejb/build/tmpsrc/uk/co/novatel/teleworker/model/wlr/bulksearch
results/impl/ApplicationInformationTypeImpl.java:58372: error while writing
uk.co.novatel.teleworker.model.wlr.bulksearchresults.impl.ApplicationInformationTypeImpl.XMLRequestID
TypeImpl.SearchOrderResultsTypeImpl.SearchTypeDetailTypeImpl.OrderTypeImpl.OrderDetailsTypeImpl.
OrderLinesTypeImpl.NumberPortingTypeImpl.OLODetailsTypeImpl.NumberLocationTypeImpl.OLOMainP
STN1AddressTypeImpl.Unmarshaller: /home/uchamad/working/teleworker/ejb/build/classes/uk/co/novatel
/teleworker/model/wlr/bulksearchresults/impl/ApplicationInformationTypeImpl$XMLRequestIDTypeImpl$S
earchOrderResultsTypeImpl$SearchTypeDetailTypeImpl$OrderTypeImpl$OrderDetailsTypeImpl$OrderLin
esTypeImpl$NumberPortingTypeImpl$OLODetailsTypeImpl$NumberLocationTypeImpl$OLOMainPSTN1A
ddressTypeImpl$Unmarshaller.class (File name too long)
    [javac]                                             public class Unmarshaller
    [javac]                                                    ^
    [javac] 1 error
The compiler is complaining about the file name being too long. This is happening because the java classes when generated from XSD contains deep nesting of inner classes. So when it comes to compile the .class name file is too long for the operating system.
I am trying this on unix box.
I wonder if there is a way to configure XJC so that it does not produce inner classes but instead keep them out.
Any help would be appreciated.
many thanks
Usmangani

Flattening your schema definition will flatten the output files, too -- that will probably be nice for coding as well since you wont have to use class names such as SomeTypeNestedInAnotherTypeThatHasYetAnotherType. Instead of having all of the elements defined directly within the enclosing root element, define logical chunks at the top level and incorporate them in the definition of real root element of your documents by reference.

System Error:Database access error,rollback segment number with name "" too small

Hi Experts,
In SXMB_MONI XML messages for File2File scenario are failing
with the below message:
Database access error
com.sap.aii.utilxi.misc.api.ResourceException: ORA-01555: snapshot too
old: rollback segment number with name "" too small ORA-22924: snapshot
too old at com.sap.aii.utilxi.blob.api.AIIBlob.getByteArray
(AIIBlob.java:85) at
com.sap.aii.utilxi.blob.api.AIIBlobImpl.getByteArray
(BlobServices.java:156)
I have refered this link http://scn.sap.com/thread/3147106
Kindly suggest,
Gagan.

This may be due memory issue on the server. refer the note/thread as
http://scn.sap.com/thread/3456694
3807 - Error messages regarding rollback and undo segments
Regards
Ramg

Can't use Find My Friends on iPhone due to Apple ID not being verified. Can't do this as I can't access my .mac email any longer and I can not change the primary e-mail address for my Apple ID!

Can't use Find My Friends on iPhone due to Apple ID not being verified.
Can't do this as I can't access my .mac email any longer and I can not change the primary e-mail address for my Apple ID!
So my options are:
Create a new Apple ID, use that and lose all the apps I've purhcased with it (a fairly substantial amount)
Somehow Migrate these purchases over to a new Apple ID
Apple let me change the primary ID for the account
Anyone else ran into this before?
I've tried accessing the mail through a mail application using the correct server information, and trying both the old 6 character password and the one I had to change it too after they updated the security guidelines - neither work.
Help would be greatly appreciated as I can see more services down the line not working without the address being verified!

To change the iCloud ID you have to go to Settings>iCloud, tap Delete Account, provide the password for the old ID when prompted to turn off Find My iDevice, then sign back in with the ID you wish to use. When you do this you may find that the password for your old ID isn't accepted. If this should happen, and if your old ID is an earlier version of your current ID, you need to temporarily recreate your old ID by going to https://appleid.apple.com, click Manage my Apple ID and sign in with your current iCloud ID. Click edit next to the primary email account, change it back to your old email address and save the change. Then edit the name of the account to change it back to your old email address. You should not need to verify the old email address. You can now use your current password to turn off Find My iDevice on your device, even though it prompts you for the password for your old account ID. Then save any photo stream photos that you wish to keep to your camera roll. When finished go to Settings>iCloud, tap Delete Account and choose Delete from My iDevice when prompted (your iCloud data will still be in iCloud). Next, go back to https://appleid.apple.com and change your primary email address and iCloud ID name back to the way it was. Now you can go to Settings>iCloud and sign in with your current iCloud ID and password.

Can't access files now that I'm running 10.9.2

Hi again, i recently went to 10.9.2 but i no longer have access to my itunes my Movies or my pictures and im sure other stuff, the storage display tells me i'm almost out of memory so it's all here some where but i cant get to it, any advise would be great?
Cheers
S

If all your files are missing
You may have logged in as a different user, such as Guest. Open the Users & Groups pane in System Preferences. Your name should be at the top of the user list, under Current User. See also this support article.
If files are missing from one folder
Change the Finder view mode; for example, from icon view to list view, or vice versa.
For information about the Other category in the Storage display, see this support article. If the Storage display seems to be inaccurate, try rebuilding the Spotlight index.
According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of the data. There is little or no performance advantage to having more available space than the minimum Apple recommends. Available storage space that you'll never use is wasted space.
See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.
You can more effectively use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) or GrandPerspective (GP) to explore the volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can also delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one. Note that ODS only works with OS X 10.8 or later. If you're running an older OS version, use GP.
Deleting files inside an iPhoto or Aperture library will corrupt the library. Any changes to a photo library must be made from within the application that created it. The same goes for Mail files.
Proceed further only if the problem isn't solved by the above steps.
ODS or GP can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
If you have more than one user account, make sure you're logged in as an administrator. The administrator account is the one that was created automatically when you first set up the computer.
Install the app you downloaded in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.
Triple-click anywhere in the corresponding line of text below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:
sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
sudo /Applications/GrandPerspective.app/Contents/MacOS/GrandPerspective
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
The application window will open, eventually showing all files in all folders, sorted by size. It may take a few minutes for the app to finish scanning.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means. When in doubt, leave it alone or ask for guidance.
When you're done with the app, quit it and also quit Terminal.

How to use Oracle SQL Developer 4.0 to connect to Ms Access file with .accdb extension

Hi all,
I am using Oracle SQL Developer 4.0 and Ms Access 2013 under Windows 7 (64 bits)
After browsing and selecting MS Access file with accdb extention, I got an error message :[Microsoft] " Data source name not found and no default driver specified".
On Administravitve Tools=> ODBC Data Source Administrator=>Drivers I have                                                File                                date
Name :                                                                               Version
Microsoft Acess Driver (*.mdb, *accdb)                                 12.00.4518.1014                                        ACEODBC.DLL                    26/10/2006
Would you please advise?
Thank you very much in advance

That MS Access driver is 64-bit, I think. If SQL Developer, or JDK is 32-bit you need to use the 32-bit driver.   You can see if you have a 32-bit driver installed using c:\windows\system32\odbcadm32.exe

Can't jar files with paths 255 chars

Hi all,
I have some wsdls that have namespaces long enough that Axis' wsdl2java process creates java files with full paths longer than 255 chars. The java files DO get generated, however. Additionally, javac finds them and compiles them. However, jar doesn't seem to want to jar them. Any idea why wsdl2java and javac work but jar doesn't? Is there anything I can do about it besides trying to move my code to a shorter path?
thanks
john

You may be running into a 72-character limit internal
to jar files, specifically manifest file line
lengths. Review the JAR Specification where it
discusses manifest files. If that's the problem, you
can use line continuations.Thanks, but that's not the problem. The manifest classpath is the same as it's been for a long time and does span multiple lines. The full path to the files in question is 260-some chars. There are about 10 classes that have this problem. I guess the problem has existed for a long time but these generated files weren't being used until now. The really bad thing about this is that the build now becomes machine-dependent-- if someone checks out the code to a path that's too long, the build fails silently.

How can I access files from a flash drive that were previously saved using a Windows computer? When I attempt to open the file on MacBook Pro, it is asking to "convert file to"; I also have Microsoft Word installed on the Mac as well.

How can I access files from a flash drive that were previously saved using a Windows computer? When I attempt to open the file on MacBook Pro, it is asking to "convert file to"; none of the options I choose work. I also have Microsoft Office (with Word) installed on the Mac as well.

Format the external drive as FAT32 or ExFAT. Both computers will then be able to read and write to it.

Snow Leopard 10.6.2 CS4 InDesign can't open files with a "#" in file path

Snow Leopard 10.6.2 CS4 InDesign can't open files with a "#" in file path using any of these perfectly normal methods:
1. double-click file in the Finder (e.g in a Folder on your Mac or on your Mac desktop etc.)
2. select file and choose "File... Open" command-o in the Finder
3. drag file to the application icon in the Finder.
4. Select file in Bridge and double-click, choose File.. Open.. or Drag icon to InDesign icon in dock.
If you try to open an ID file named with a "#", you will get an error message "Missing required parameter 'from' for event 'open.'"
This happens to any InDesign file that has a "#" (pound sign, number sign, or hash) in the filename or in the file path (any parent folder).
To reproduce
Name an InDesign file Test#.idd Try to open it in the Finder or Bridge (as opposed to the "Open" dilaog of InDeisng itself).
"Solution"
The file WILL open using File... Open... command-o while in InDesign application.
Rename the file or folders that have a "#" (shift-3) in the filename.
Report to Adobe if it bugs you.
This does not occur in "plain" Leopard 10.5 nor Tiger 10.4
Untested in Panther or before and
Untested with CS3 and earlier in Snow Leaopard.
Anyone have those and want to try this... ?

In case this really bothers you: we've added a workaround for this into Soxy. If you enable the option, these documents will open fine on double-click.
You need Soxy 1.0.7 from:
http://www.rorohiko.com/soxy
Go to the 'Soxy' - 'Preferences' - 'Other' dialog window, and enable 'Open InDesign via Script'
(Irrelevant background info (it's all invisible to the user): the workaround works by special-casing how Soxy opens documents in InDesign: instead of using AppleScript, Soxy will use ExtendScript to instruct InDesign to open the document - which works fine).

How can I access files that I moved from an older MacBook Pro to a newer one via Firewire and Migration assistant. The files show up on the new MacBook but cannot be opened. Thanks!

How can I access files that I moved from an older MacBook Pro to a newer one via Firewire and Migration assistant? The files show up on the new MacBook but cannot be opened. Thanks!

Get info then check permissions then add your curent user name (it was probably different on old Mac) and give your username full read/write permissions.

Can't access files with names too long

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