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Rename a folder as .con, .com, ... etc.

April 2018




Issue


On Windows, it is impossible to name a folder "con", "com1", "com2", "com3" etc.. *
If you try to name a file using one of these names, it will not work or it will display an error: 

Write Fault Error Writing Device <filename.ext>  
Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail?


or 

The device name specified is invalid.

Reasons


The MS-DOS uses these names for system drivers.
To avoid confusion, it is impossible to use one of these names for naming a file, text file, or even an HTML page.
  • Here is the list of device names:
    • CON Keyboard and Display
    • PRN System list device, usually a parallel port
    • AUX auxiliary device, usually a serial port
    • CLOCK $ System Clock Real Time
    • NUL Bit-bucket device
    • A-Z: The letters are assigned to Drives
    • COM1 First serial communication port
    • LPT1 First parallel printer port
    • LPT2 Second parallel printer port
    • LPT3 third parallel printer port
    • COM2 Second serial communications port
    • COM3 Third serial communications port
    • Fourth COM4 serial port communication

Solution


But there are still way to rename a folder "con", "com1", "com2", "com3" ...

The goal is to insert a special invisible character in the name: ALT + 0160.

Related

Published by deri58. Latest update on March 26, 2011 at 06:28 AM by deri58.
This document, titled "Rename a folder as .con, .com, ... etc.," is available under the Creative Commons license. Any copy, reuse, or modification of the content should be sufficiently credited to CCM (https://ccm.net/).
Computer restarts each time
Windows SP3 - - Error Code 0x0000007E