Renaming files with invalid characters in their names on NTFS partitions, introduced by operating systems other than Windows

Essentially, Linux created some files with colons (:) in the name on a NTFS partition where I have Windows installed. I have since uninstalled Linux, but now I can only view these files in Windows Explorer. I can't open them, I can't even rename them to
correct the problem. It's as if they don't exist, because of the invalid search paths.
If I try to rename them in Windows Explorer I get following message.
The file name you specified is no valid or too long.
Specify a different file name.
Well isnt' that something?... isn't that nice? Windows is able to display these files, but it doesn't allow me to open them and it certainly doesn't like me to rename them. So why is it whining about it then, when I'm trying to help? It says "try a different
file name". Yeah, right! Like I haven't tried that one already! It doesn't matter what file name I input it will never accept it.
So what am I supposed to do now? Ditch Windows and go back to Linux? Surely, Microsoft doesn't like the sound of that. Sure, I could reinstall Linux or run a Linux live system to correct the problem. But what good is Windows then? I might as well switch to
Linux altogether.
After doing some research I now know by fact that it's (kind of) possible to rename files from UNIX and UNIX-like operating systems to those compliant with Windows by using something called file name character translation. To some level this is essential and
necessary for Windows interoperability with other operating systems (Windows is not the only operating system in the world). But this seems to be very complicated and I can't get my head around it. My brain is in overload. I don't know where to start.
Once there was a...
There's the Windows Services for UNIX (SFU) 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5. The first two versions were based on MKS Toolkit, a package licensed by Microsoft from MKS Inc. The later versions were based on the similar Interix product, after Microsoft purchased the company
that made it.
Then there's the new Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications (SUA). These are services for UNIX components. They are supposed to have Client for NFS v3 included as well. But the server components from the SFU line is missing (e.g. Server for NFS). These are included
in Server editions of Windows.
Then there's the Microsoft Knowledge Base article
289627: "How to Enable File Name Character Translation". This article seems to describe exactly my situation.
Windows and UNIX operating systems have restrictions on valid characters that can be used in a file name. The list of illegal characters for each operating system, however, is different. For example, a UNIX file name can use a colon (:), but a Windows
file name cannot use a colon (:). If a UNIX user attempts to create a file with a Windows illegal character on a Windows Services for UNIX network file system (NFS) share, the attempt is unsuccessful and the UNIX client computer receives an input or output
error.
It goes further than that. At first glance, this KB article also seems to offer a solution to this exact problem, with examples as shown below.
For example, the following maps the UNIX colon (:) to a Windows dash (-):
0x3a : 0x2d ; replace client : with - on server
I checked these values in charmap.exe and they are correct. Except for 2D not being a "dash", it's rather a hyphen ("hyphen minus" to be exact), but these two have pretty much the same appearance and they get interchanged a lot, I'm sure
they are used to it by now. (Yes, the characters! They don't mind.)
Then there's this registry key.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Server For NFS\CurrentVersion\Mapping
Well, of course, I don't have Server for NFS. So this is a dead end. Well, actually, it was a dead end from the beginning...
1. First of all, I'm not working with a network share on a NAS or SAN storage. The files are on the local disk drive where Windows is installed, so that's a DAS for you.
2. I don't have SFU! Well obviously, I'm on Windows Vista! So that means SUA!
3. SUA are service components only. No server components. Can you guess what that means? Yeah... no "Server for NFS" since it's a server component.
4. Windows Vista is a client side operating system! Server for NFS is only offered for use with Windows Server systems.
5. Back to square one!
So there you have it. They all lived happy for the rest of their lives...
I'm stuck here. Can someone tell me what to do? I mean beyond the obvious option to use Linux to fixa a Windows problem? The NTFS file system itself supports colons in file names. It's Windows that doesn't, and so by default it proclaims it invalid character.
Surely, even a Windows client operating system like Windows Vista should be able to allow the user to at least rename files with invalid characters to something more sensible (from the system point of view) and valid, if not being able to open them as they
are. Just add some crazy voodoo code to it and it will work. If you can make it possible on Windows Server with UNIX user-mode subsystem on NT kernel, then what's stopping you from giving the Windows client system the same benefit?
So what now? Purchase a Windows Server 2012 R2 license, copy my invalid files to a NAS share with NFS on a UNIX or Linux system, and have a go at the Windows registry and Server for NFS? Yeah... you're right, it's probably a bit over the top...
On a second thought... I might as well install Linux again. There are countless situations where Linux has helped me solve problems related to, and more often than not caused by Windows.

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The problem occurs in:
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Thanks
Edited by: user10283976 on 30/03/2012 07:36
Edited by: user10283976 on 30/03/2012 07:37
Edited by: user10283976 on 30/03/2012 07:37
Edited by: user10283976 on 30/03/2012 07:38
Edited by: user10283976 on 30/03/2012 07:40
Edited by: user10283976 on 30/03/2012 07:41
Edited by: user10283976 on 30/03/2012 07:42

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