First off this is on Windows XP on a Eee PC Netbook
I keep trying to delete one file and it says the files contain a name to long for the recycle bin and I even changed the properties (haven’t tried moving my files to an external drive as of yet) but there are file names to long for the Recycle Bin.
Then on another files I can’t seem to open them at all, the .scriv item is a folder that wont open even if using the program, tried vrious methods but just not going. Agian this is on an XP system.
(so on a side note, with this I just lost all my NaNo writing and I was ahead… should have backed up with another program since this was a beta…)
I had a similar problem when I accidentally did “Save As” and saved a project into another project folder. Try tunneling down to the last folder-within-a-folder if the same thing happened to you, and move the file to the root C: drive, then delete it from there. You should be able to then delete the problem folder.
Actually I tried that and I even tried moving files to my Drop Box, an Extrenal Drive, to try to delete them on my Desktop since it runs Windows 7 but the issue here is they wont move to the drive, when I put them into Drop Box and delete them on my desktop they copy themselves! I even tried pulling the folders out one by one to delete them but they just reappear I checked the settings on the folders but this is just beyond my skill really an interesting event but still…
I’m having this same problem. When I back up the project, the backup folder now includes a zip file that didn’t used to be included, and a folder that just seems to replicate itself inside another folder of the same name and inside another folder of the same name, etc. There are at least 10 “generations” of that folder and I can’t put the files in the recycling bin because it says the names are too long.
It’s starting to take up space but I’ve been waiting for a windows version of Scrivener for forever and I don’t want to stop using it now. I’m worried, though, how safe the project really is? With all that nonsense going on.
Thanks everyone. This is a particularly nasty bug - sorry. I have managed to easily replicate and unfortunately took me some time to delete the file after as ‘Save As’ within an existing project folder. My path was: C:\Users\Lee\DOCUME~1\TEST~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR\TESTSA~1.SCR
I have identified the bug in code and worked out a simple fix to stop this in future. However, that doesn’t help you much right now.
Windows has special problems dealing with extra long path/filenames. If the combination of the path and file names are longer than ~255 characters Windows will not handle it well if you try to delete or rename it (you can create it but not change it). While there are programs that can handle names that long or longer (e.g., FileBoss) the first thing to try would be to rename some of the folders that lead up to the file itself. Opps, no just tried that, here’s my renamed file path:
C:\Users\Lee\Documents\test.scriv\a\a\a\a\a\a\a\a\a\a\a\a\a\a\a\a
Still wouldn’t delete. Damn! I guess it’s because there’s nested files beneath these with longer names.
Okay, there are special programs for deleting files/folders that will work - sorry to resort to this, but in the essence of time it’s going to take far too long to rename all these files.
I then selected the offending folder and via delinv deleted the file ~6000 files/folders were deleted - which is scary, but it worked and the file was gone. Phew!
I’m having this problem (the nested files) whenever I try to back up my project, whether as a zip or regular folder. Scrivener also crashes every time; so far (fingers crossed) when I open it up again, all my writing is still there.
Any solutions? At the moment I’m backing up my writing manually, but it’s a little nerve-wracking not having a full backup of my project!
I checked the settings on the folders but this is just beyond my skill 
really an interesting event but still…
I’m worried, though, how safe the project really is? With all that nonsense going on.
