how many files are allowed in a folder?

up to almost 2,000 files in a single sub folder in a subfolder in C:
drive

want to avoid catastrophic scrambling of data and information loss

How many files can reside in a single folder?

PS: might be important: the filenames are all contiguous characters
with NO spaces

almost all files are *.txt and actual count is 1,599 files in 15.8MB

In message
,
Robert Macy writes:
up to almost 2,000 files in a single sub folder in a subfolder in C:
drive

want to avoid catastrophic scrambling of data and information loss

How many files can reside in a single folder?

PS: might be important: the filenames are all contiguous characters
with NO spaces

almost all files are *.txt and actual count is 1,599 files in 15.8MB

I'm not aware of _any_ limit; a folder/directory is more or less a file,
which grows as necessary.

I believe there was/is a limit on the number of entries in the _root_
directory - about 100 I think (and that may be 8.3 type filenames, i. e.
11 bytes, such that longer ones take more space). I'm pretty sure it was
the case under DOS, not sure about '9x.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

They are public servants, so we will threat them rather as Flashman treats
servants. - Stephen Fry on some people's attitudo to the BBC, in Radio Times,
3-9 July 2010

Robert Macy wrote in news:f93d480c-a84d-4610-bfe3-
:

up to almost 2,000 files in a single sub folder in a subfolder in C:
drive

want to avoid catastrophic scrambling of data and information loss

How many files can reside in a single folder?

PS: might be important: the filenames are all contiguous characters
with NO spaces

almost all files are *.txt and actual count is 1,599 files in 15.8MB

I zipped a directory of over 7500 small images with no problems. I think I
did over 10,000 at one point.

The one limitation most likely to hit is the total length of a path
descriptor, including file name. I can't remember what it is, but avoid it
because weird things happen like delete or other access failures. You might
be able to fix that by addressing with DOS 8.3 filenames, but the most
reliable way is to CUT (not copy) the base directory, and paste it in the
root of the drive to shorten the path, fix the problem, then put the base dir
back where it came from.

I think FAT32 is limited to just short of 65536 files (which would include
the count of directories too).

On 10/24/2011 18:26, Lostgallifreyan wrote:
Robert wrote in news:f93d480c-a84d-4610-bfe3-
:

up to almost 2,000 files in a single sub folder in a subfolder in C:
drive

want to avoid catastrophic scrambling of data and information loss

How many files can reside in a single folder?

PS: might be important: the filenames are all contiguous characters
with NO spaces

almost all files are *.txt and actual count is 1,599 files in 15.8MB

I zipped a directory of over 7500 small images with no problems. I think I
did over 10,000 at one point.

The one limitation most likely to hit is the total length of a path
descriptor, including file name. I can't remember what it is, but avoid it
because weird things happen like delete or other access failures. You might
be able to fix that by addressing with DOS 8.3 filenames, but the most
reliable way is to CUT (not copy) the base directory, and paste it in the
root of the drive to shorten the path, fix the problem, then put the base dir
back where it came from.

I think FAT32 is limited to just short of 65536 files (which would include
the count of directories too).

Not just short of, but exactly 65536. The . dot and .. dot dot
entries take up two, so 65534 "visible" file directory entries. That's
the number of dir entries allowed. That means 65534 shortname files.
Longname files will use more.

There's a structure going back to DOS named DTA (Data Transfer Area)
which was used by various interrupts including the int 21h functions
"FindFirstFile" and "FindNextFile".

FindNextFile relied on a datum in that structure, that was one word
wide, to locate the next dir entry. That's the only data structure I'm
aware of that would restrict the number of dir entries. There could be
others but having that is enough to have to enforce backward compatibility.

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote:

almost all files are *.txt and actual count is 1,599 files
in 15.8MB

I had a look at one directory on my drive that I know has a lot of files
(don't know if it's the directory containing the most files on my system
or not) but it has about 7,300 files occupying 500 mb of space.

I believe there was/is a limit on the number of entries in the _root_
directory - about 100 I think (and that may be 8.3 type filenames,
i. e. 11 bytes, such that longer ones take more space). I'm pretty
sure it was the case under DOS, not sure about '9x.

You're thinking about a volume partitioned as FAT-16. It has a limit of
512 entries in the root directory. FAT-32 doesn't have that limitation
(and neither does DOS).

I think FAT32 is limited to just short of 65536 files (which would include
the count of directories too).

Not just short of, but exactly 65536. The . dot and .. dot dot
entries take up two, so 65534 "visible" file directory entries. That's
the number of dir entries allowed. That means 65534 shortname files.
Longname files will use more.

FWIW, I have a folder maxed out with 9 subfolders and 23,376 files
(predominantly with long file names). Attempts to add more files or
folders give an access denied error, but otherwise being at the limit has
not caused any problems.

On 10/25/2011 01:02 AM, nobody wrote:
I think FAT32 is limited to just short of 65536 files (which would include
the count of directories too).

Not just short of, but exactly 65536. The .dot and ..dot dot
entries take up two, so 65534 "visible" file directory entries. That's
the number of dir entries allowed. That means 65534 shortname files.
Longname files will use more.

FWIW, I have a folder maxed out with 9 subfolders and 23,376 files
(predominantly with long file names). Attempts to add more files or
folders give an access denied error, but otherwise being at the limit has
not caused any problems.




I've cut and pasted this:




On a FAT32 drive the directory for a folder can hold a maximum of
65.534 entries.

Files that use long file names (more than 8 character names plus 3
character extensions) will use multiple directory entries for each
file.

Most users encounter problems somewhere in the 15,000 to 20,000 file
range, although this depends entirely on how long their actual file
names are. It is possible to hit the limit with as few as 5,000 files
if very long file names are used.

On NTFS drives the limit is much higher



Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
Microsoft MVP

Robert Macy wrote:

up to almost 2,000 files in a single sub folder in a subfolder in C:
drive

want to avoid catastrophic scrambling of data and information loss

How many files can reside in a single folder?

It depends on the file system.

In the FAT systems a directory can contain up to 65,536 entries. A
single file can use up to 13 entries, depending on the length of its
name. In FAT16 the root directory was further restricted, but that
limit was removed in FAT32.

In NTFS, there's no limit. You can have up to 4,294,967,295 files in a
partition, but there's no limit on how many of those may be in a
single directory.

PS: might be important: the filenames are all contiguous characters
with NO spaces

almost all files are *.txt and actual count is 1,599 files in 15.8MB

Total space occupied by the files makes no difference. A directory is
a special type of file containing information about other files. It
tells where to find those files, but does not contain their contents.

--
Tim Slattery

http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

On Oct 25, 5:56*am, Tim Slattery wrote:
Robert Macy wrote:
up to almost 2,000 files in a single sub folder in a subfolder in C:
drive

want to avoid catastrophic scrambling of data and information loss

How many files can reside in a single folder?

It depends on the file system.

In the FAT systems a directory can contain up to 65,536 entries. A
single file can use up to 13 entries, depending on the length of its
name. In FAT16 the root directory was further restricted, but that
limit was removed in FAT32.

In NTFS, there's no limit. You can have up to 4,294,967,295 files in a
partition, but there's no limit on how many of those may be in a
single directory.

PS: might be important: the filenames are all contiguous characters
with NO spaces
almost all files are *.txt and actual count is 1,599 files in 15.8MB

Total space occupied by the files makes no difference. A directory is
a special type of file containing information about other files. It
tells where to find those files, but does not contain their contents.

--
Tim Slattery
/slatteryt

On Oct 25, 5:56*am, Tim Slattery wrote:
Robert Macy wrote:
up to almost 2,000 files in a single sub folder in a subfolder in C:
drive

want to avoid catastrophic scrambling of data and information loss

How many files can reside in a single folder?

It depends on the file system.

In the FAT systems a directory can contain up to 65,536 entries. A
single file can use up to 13 entries, depending on the length of its
name. In FAT16 the root directory was further restricted, but that
limit was removed in FAT32.

In NTFS, there's no limit. You can have up to 4,294,967,295 files in a
partition, but there's no limit on how many of those may be in a
single directory.

PS: might be important: the filenames are all contiguous characters
with NO spaces
almost all files are *.txt and actual count is 1,599 files in 15.8MB

Total space occupied by the files makes no difference. A directory is
a special type of file containing information about other files. It
tells where to find those files, but does not contain their contents.

--
Tim Slattery
/slatteryt

arrrggg! reply to answer all

Thank you ALL for the replies.

My conclusions:
I can do a directory filename check and check for lengths of names. I
can then divide that into the total available and 'estimate' maximum
number.
But, most importantly, *if* I do exceed the limit, nothing weird
happens, I'm merely denied access.