Using Detours if either the .exe or the .dll is within a directory with unicode characters? about detours

[lostmsu]

I found a workaround for this issue: you can use GetShortPathName function to generate a DOS-compatible name, and that name will work.

[sp00n]

I found a workaround for this issue: you can use GetShortPathName function to generate a DOS-compatible name, and that name will work.

If I remember correctly, I did try that during my tests, and while it worked for some directories, some still threw an error.

[lostmsu]

@sp00n if I'd be guessing I'd say it would not work for relative paths, but should have worked for absolute ones.

[LeoDavidson]

Short names are not always turned on in the filesystem with Windows these days.

They can be useful as one possible workaround, but they won't always be available. It depends how the filesystem was formatted. Maintaining the short names, and testing for two names instead of one each time, slows down filesystem operations slightly, which I think is the main reason they aren't on all the time. That and not much software requires them anymore.

The default for Windows seems to have changed back and forth a few times in recent years, in my experience, but maybe there's more to it (e.g. Home vs Pro versions could be a factor). I don't know the exact rules for when they're on by default, as they seem to change, but people can also override that and turn them on or off if they wish. So you cannot depend on 8.3 names existing these days.

[lostmsu]

@LeoDavidson AFAIK by default they are on on NTFS and AFAIK ReFS can not be booted from. I can't imagine even 0.1% of all Windows users turning them off, so it should be a fine workaround. And the 0.1% users can turn them back on if they really need my software.

But this is still just a workaround. A proper fix should be implemented eventually one way or another.

[LeoDavidson]

They are not always on by default these days, and also not always on for every drive in a system either. That's the problem.

This SuperUser post has an answer saying Windows 8 and Server 2012 turned short names off by default, which fits with my memory of when it changed:

https://superuser.com/questions/1505174/how-comes-that-short-filenames-8-3-are-created-in-one-partition-and-not-in-ano

It's possible Microsoft reversed the decision again in later OS but I'm not sure. You can't depend on them being there in any case.

[sp00n]

Ah, I think it was disabled by default on my NVMe drives, which is why I quickly abandoned it.

// Edit
My HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation setting is set to 2, which according to the SuperUser link above means it "Sets 8dot3 name creation on a per volume basis".
And using the fsutil 8dot3name query DRIVELETTER: command revealed that only some of my drives/partitions have it enabled, for no apparent reason (that I can think of).
The SATA SSD boot drive has it enabled, two of my SATA HDDs don't, but the third one does, for the NVMe it's disabled, as well as for two attached USB drives. 🤷‍♂️

[lostmsu]

@sp00n AFAIK off on ReFS

[sp00n]

@sp00n AFAIK off on ReFS

All my partitions are in NTFS though.