When working with Windows Shadow Copies (Volume Shadow Copy Service), developers often encounter path length limitations despite NTFS theoretically supporting paths up to 32,767 characters. The practical limit remains ~260 characters due to legacy Win32 API constraints.

The error occurs because shadow copy operations prepend special paths like:
\\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy[#]\
This consumes precious character space before your actual path begins.

Method 1: Using Robocopy with UNCPATH

For programmatic access, use Robocopy with UNC path syntax:

robocopy "\\\\?\\GLOBALROOT\\Device\\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy1\\C\\Projects" "C:\\Restored" "LongFileName.txt" /copyall /r:1 /w:1

Method 2: PowerShell Substitution

Create a PS function to mount shadow copies as drives:

function Mount-ShadowCopy {
    param([string]$ShadowPath)
    $driveLetter = (68..90 | ForEach-Object {[char]$_} | Where-Object {!(Test-Path "$($_):")})[0]
    subst "${driveLetter}:" $ShadowPath
    return "${driveLetter}:"
}

$shadowDrive = Mount-ShadowCopy "\\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy1\C\Projects"
Copy-Item "$shadowDrive\LongFile.txt" "C:\Restored"

Method 3: Temporary Path Shortening

For manual operations:

1. Create a junction point near root: mklink /J C:\shortpath "C:\very\long\original\path"
2. Access shadow copy through the junction
3. Delete junction after operation

• Implement directory structure monitoring scripts
• Consider enabling long path awareness in applications via manifest
• For .NET apps, add to app.config: <runtime><AppContextSwitchOverrides value="Switch.System.IO.UseLegacyPathHandling=false"/></runtime>

If the error persists unexpectedly:

fsutil behavior query disable8dot3
fsutil behavior set disable8dot3 0

Some backup systems rely on 8.3 filenames as fallback.

While Windows NTFS theoretically supports paths up to 32,767 characters, many Win32 APIs still enforce the legacy MAX_PATH limit of 260 characters. The Shadow Copy service adds its own complexity by prepending lengthy volume GUID paths like:

\\\\?\\GLOBALROOT\\Device\\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy[XX]\\OriginalPath\\File.txt

The actual constraint happens during the path reconstruction phase when:

• VSS mounts the shadow copy at a GUID-based path (~50 chars)
• Original file path gets appended
• Destination path adds to the total length

Example problematic scenario:

// Original path: 67 chars
J:\Projects\Foo\Bar\VeryLongProjectName\client_deliverables_v3_final\document.txt

// Becomes 170+ chars when combined with:
\\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy5\

Method 1: Using robocopy from elevated command prompt

robocopy "\\\\?\\GLOBALROOT\\Device\\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy5\\Projects\\Foo" "C:\\Restored" /copyall /xj

Method 2: Temporary path shortening with subst

subst X: "\\\\?\\GLOBALROOT\\Device\\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy5"
robocopy X:\Projects\Foo C:\Restored *.* /copyall
subst X: /d

For developers needing to handle this in applications:

// C# example using AlphaFS library to bypass path limits
using Alphaleonis.Win32.Filesystem;

public void RestoreFromShadowCopy(string shadowGuidPath, string destPath) {
    Directory.CreateDirectory(destPath);
    File.Copy(shadowGuidPath, 
             Path.Combine(destPath, Path.GetFileName(shadowGuidPath)),
             true);
}

• Implement path length monitoring scripts
• Consider enabling long path awareness in applications
• For critical shares, maintain shorter root paths (e.g., J:\P instead of J:\Projects)

To enable long path support in Windows 10+ for testing:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
"LongPathsEnabled"=dword:00000001