Control 8dot3 naming in Windows 2008 and Windows 7

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In Windows server 2008/2003, Windows 7, Windows Vista and XP, by default NTFS filesystem maintains file names in old 8dot3 format for every file in long filename format to allow legacy applications to be able to access to these files. If you do not use any legacy applications or using a Fileserver which is extensively used then finetuning or even disabling 8dot3 naming can significantly improve performance.


The default setting is to create  8dot3 names on a per volume basis. You can disable 8dot3 naming completely or can disable it on all volumes except the system volume or partition.

The following registry key controls this feature:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation]

Set NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation to one of the following values:

0 – Enable 8dot3 naming
1 – Disable 8dot3 naming
2 – Enable 8.3 naming convention creation on a per volume basis [default]
3 – Disable 8dot3 name creation on all volumes except the system volume

This can be modified either modifying the registry key directly or by using the “fsutil” command.

Using FSUTIL

1. Click Start – Search “cmd”, right-click and choose “Run as Administrator”
2. From the command prompt, type as follows:

fsutil 8dot3name set <0,1,2,3>

where 0,1,2,3 sets the values accordingly.

3. Reboot your system for changes to take effect.

From Windows Registry

1. Click Start – search “regedit” and enter.
2. In the left pane, navigate to

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\SYSTEM
\CurrentControlSet
\Control
\FileSystem

3. In the rightpane, edit the DWORD “NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation” and set its value as above.

4. Reboot the system for changes to take effect.

Related content:

  1. Enable/Disable Last Access Timestamp in Windows
  2. Windows 2000/XP may not display files and folders in Long File name format
  3. How to Disable the DOS 8.3 naming convention to save system resources
  4. How to Increase the file system memory cache in Vista/2003
  5. Windows 7 problems access previous version of files in Windows Server 2003

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Topics: Windows 7

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