Find NTFS 8.3 Naming Parameters in Regedit

This article explains how to locate and inspect NTFS file system parameters, specifically 8.3 short naming creation, within the Windows Registry Editor (Regedit). By navigating to the central file system configuration key, you can view and modify system-wide settings that dictate how Windows handles legacy file naming, path limits, and disk behavior.

Registry Path for File System Parameters

To inspect NTFS parameters, open the Registry Editor by pressing Win + R, typing regedit, and pressing Enter. Navigate to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem

Inspecting 8.3 Naming Creation

Within the FileSystem key, locate the DWORD (32-bit) value named NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation. This parameter controls whether the system generates legacy MS-DOS-compatible 8.3 short filenames for files with long names.

The value of NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation is interpreted as follows:

• 0 (Enabled): 8.3 name creation is enabled for all volumes on the system.
• 1 (Disabled): 8.3 name creation is disabled for all volumes on the system.
• 2 (Per Volume / Default): 8.3 name creation is configured on a per-volume basis using the volume’s internal flag.
• 3 (Disabled except System Volume): 8.3 name creation is disabled on all volumes except the system volume (usually the C: drive).

Other Key File System Parameters

The same FileSystem registry key contains several other important NTFS parameters:

• LongPathsEnabled: Setting this to 1 removes the MAX_PATH (260 character) limitation for Win32 file and directory functions.
• NtfsAllowExtendedCharacter8dot3Rename: Determines whether 8.3 short file names can contain characters outside the standard ASCII set.
• NtfsMemoryUsage: Adjusts the size of the paged pool memory allocated for NTFS physical file system operations (values range from 1 for default to 2 for increased memory cache).