If you've ever had anything to do with maintaining or migrating a fileserver you will probably have experienced issues with MAX_PATH. In Windows the maximum length for a path is MAX_PATH, which is defined as 260 characters. One of the most common errors for MAX_PATH is "Can't access this folder. Path is too long." This usually happens when users (those pesky users!) map a drive half way down a directory structure and started creating new files and folders.

You can find more information about MAX_PATH at the following locations:

• Path too long error message when exceeding MAX_PATH
• Naming a File or Directory
• Long Paths in .NET, Part 1 of 3
• Long Paths in .NET, Part 2 of 3: Long Path Workarounds
• Long Paths in .NET, Part 3 of 3 Redux

I've seen a number of different ways of finding paths that are too long but my favourite at the moment is using the Microsoft Log Parser. Details:

• http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/tools/logparser/default.mspx
• http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=890cd06b-abf8-4c25-91b2-f8d975cf8c07&displaylang=en

Once you've downloaded LogParser you can run the following command to output a CSV file of paths greater than 250 characters:

LogParser "SELECT Path, Size FROM C:\*.* WHERE STRLEN(Path) > 250" -i:FS -preserveLastAccTime:ON -o:CSV > Results.csv

Just change the "C:\*.*" to the location you want to check for long paths and Bob's your uncle.