Full Disclosure: Re: annoying bug in Windows XP

[Amir Malik <amir.fd () unoc net>]

Hi,

The default setting on Windows is to create an 8.3 short file name for 
every file that cannot fit in the 8.3 format. The example you posted is 
expected behavior on a default Windows installation.
Fire up the Registry Editor and drill down to: 
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
To disable creation of 8.3 short file names on local NTFS file systems, 
create or update the following DWORD registry keys:
NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation // NTFS only
Win95TruncatedExtensions // del *.xxx phenomenon

I don't think it's possible to disable 8.3 creation on FAT file systems. 
Other interesting keys:
Win31FileSystem  // FAT compatibility
NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate // OT, but personal favorite

Changes take place after reboot.

Cheers.

- Amir

On 2005-10-16 01:25, Frank Dietrich wrote:
> Hi to all readers,
>
> this day I found a annoying misbehavior in Windows XP professional
> with SP2. 
>
> I had a directory with some Java sources (*.java) and some backup
> files (*.jav). Because I din't longer need the backup files I would
> delete them with 'del *.jav'. But this command also delete all the
> source files. #§%*. The last backup was 4 hours ago. :-/
>
> So I tried what happen and the result is the command above checks
> only the first three chars from the extension (DOS is alive).
>
> Here is how you can reproduce it:
>
> mkdir testbug
> cd testbug
> rem.>file1.jav
> rem.>file2.java
> rem.>file3.javas
> del *.jav
>
> All three files are deleted. Is this a known bug or a unknown feature?
>
> Frank
_______________________________________________
Full-Disclosure - We believe in it.
Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html
Hosted and sponsored by Secunia - http://secunia.com/