[Rx] Convert Too Long Win7 File Names in 7-Zip

7z_rm01Sometimes MS-Windows really sucks. I unzipped a folder without reviewing the file names. Some joker had named each file longer than War and Peace. Of course, after installing, these files couldn’t be renamed or deleted.

I tried opening the terminal window and using the MS-command line.

Dir /x

This gives me the short name. Then, I can:

rename shortname newname

This is usually bulletproof. BUT, it didn’t work and sent an error message that the file could not be found. Bummer.

What did work was using 7-Zip:

  1. Open 7-Zip Program
  2. Navigate to the directory that has the “bad” files.
  3. Highlight a “bad” file
  4. Press F2 and rename to something shorter.

That’s all folks!