Backward compatibility allows users to upgrade to the latest version of Windows but still run many older programs that were designed for an earlier operating system. This feature is something that is very crucial to the success of Microsoft Windows. Without backward compatibility, users would be very reluctant to upgrade to the latest versions. Instead, they would be forced to wait until all of the applications that they use are rewritten to run on the new operating system.
Unfortunately, this backward compatibility is one of the reasons why Windows has become so large on the hard drive. Although it is getting packed with new features and technologies, the old features and technologies have to be included as well, even those that can slow the system down, for compatibility purposes. One example of the old features that can slow your system down is legacy filename support.
Over the years, the file system structure has changed dramatically. One of the first things that changed in the file system was the limited nature of the old MS-DOS 8.3 file system standard. The old file system would limit filenames to a maximum length of 8 characters plus a 3-character extension and also restricted what characters could be included in the name. This was something that needed to be changed to allow for greater user flexibility. Eventually, these limitations
were expanded with the release of Windows 95, which bumped up the maximum filename limit to 255 characters, with a modified version of the FAT16 file system.
With the implementation of the new, longer filename support and the ability to have more characters in the filename came the added task of making sure that older applications that were written to run only with the 8.3 standard still worked on the new file system structure. This was accomplished by an extra entry in the file table. Now, for every file, there are two names saved. One is a real long filename and the other is a short 8-character version so that older programs will still be able to access the file.
The extra filename that has to be saved can cause decreased performance when you are working with the file system. Disabling this old feature can give you an extra boost that will make browsing through your files faster.
Keep in mind that disabling the old compatibility feature comes with one downside. Applications on your computer that depend on the old 8.3 standard to run will stop running and will give you errors when you try to run them. Although this technology is more than 10 years old, several popular applications, mentioned in the following paragraphs, still depend on the old standard. Unfortunately, in the software world, some companies don't bother fixing things if they aren't broken to increase the performance of the user's computers. For the most part, they do not have to worry about it because Microsoft supports the lazy programmers by leaving these old, inefficient features in the operating system.
Even though a few applications will have difficulties when this feature is disabled, the majority of users can still disable this feature and have no problems. Basically, you just have to watch out for problem applications. One type of program that has the most problems when the 8.3 standard is disabled are installer applications that many software developers use to get their programs up and running on your computer. For some reason, a few installers are still programmed using old 16-bit technology, which depends on the short filename compatibility feature to function.
Users frequently run into this error with Symantec's AntiVirus software. According to Symantec, users may receive an error stating 1639. Invalid command line argument when they install certain versions of Symantec's software. For users of Symantec software who want to disable the old support for greater performance, the company recommends that they enable the 8.3-standard filename compatibility support when the software is being installed and then
disable it once the software is installed. The software should then work fine.
That basic Symantec approach can be applied to any situations that you may run into when applications are being installed and errors received. Just enable the 8.3-standard filename compatibility support during the install, and then disable it once again after the install is complete.
That simple workaround will work for 95 percent of the problems that you will encounter when the 8.3 standard filename compatibility is disabled. The remaining few will encounter problems when the applications are running or trying to run. These applications are usually very old 16-bit applications. (Applications are now 32-bit and there are already 64-bit applications starting to pop up.) Either that, or the apps are just not programmed very well. If you
have an old application that refuses to run when the compatibility feature is disabled, consider upgrading to a new version of the application to see if that will help. If it still does not work, then you will be in the position of having to keep the legacy support enabled.
Now that you are aware of the possible problems that can be caused by disabling the legacy filename standard, and also know what to do if you experience any, you are ready to disable the feature. Disabling the legacy support is not as easy as clicking a button, but is not very difficult either. Follow these steps to disable/enable this feature:
1. Click the Start Menu and select Run, then type regedit in the box and click OK. This will start up the Registry Editor.
2. Once the Registry Editor has loaded, navigate to the file system settings by expanding HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SYSTEM, CurrentControlSet, Control, and then FileSystem.
3. Look for the key that is named NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation and right-click it and select Modify.
4. In the Edit DWORD Value box, type in a 1 and click the OK button.
5. Then, restart your computer and you are done!
Once your computer restarts, the new settings will be in effect. If you ever experience any of the aforementioned problems with older applications and installers, the first thing you should do is re-enable the compatibility feature to see if it is the culprit.
To make this easier for you to do, I have included a registry file on the companion CD in the Chapter 10 folder so that you can just import the registry file into the registry instead of repeating all of the preceding steps to enable and disable the feature.
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