Outline:
Message claims that not even Microsoft and Bill Gates can explain why it is impossible to create a folder named “CON” on a Windows based computer.
Brief Analysis:
It is true that you cannot create a folder called CON but the reason is well documented.
An Indian discovered that nobody can create a FOLDER anywhere on the computer which can be named as “CON”.
This is something pretty cool…and unbelievable… At Microsoft the whole Team, including Bill Gates, couldn’t answer why this happened!
TRY IT NOW !!
IT WILL NOT CREATE “CON ” FOLDER…….instead it will name it as new folder….TRY IT !!!”
Detailed Analysis:
According to this rather breathless little message, which circulates via email and online, it is not possible to create a folder named “CON” on a Microsoft Windows based computer. The message claims that not even Bill Gates or the whole Microsoft “Team” can explain why this might be so.
It is in fact perfectly true that you cannot create a folder named “CON”, nor can you rename an existing folder to “CON”. However, there is no mystery surrounding this restriction whatsoever. The “team” at Microsoft, and a great many others besides, know perfectly well why you cannot name a folder “CON”. “CON” and a number of other character strings are in fact reserved names that go back to the days of DOS and cannot be used to name folders or files. Other reserved names are:
- PRN
- AUX
- NUL
- LPT1
- COM1
- Potential drive letter – A: to Z:
- A number of others
If you try to name a folder using one of these reserved names, the name will automatically revert to the default, generally “New Folder”. Moreover, if you try to use a reserved name to name a file such as a Notepad or Microsoft Word document you will generally receive an error message similar to the following:
Depending on exactly how you save the file, you may instead receive a warning message advising that a file with that name already exists. However, even if you choose “Yes” to overwrite the existing file, you will still not be allowed to save the file.
It should be noted that, by entering the right sequence of commands via the command prompt, it is usually possible to circumvent the restriction in Windows and create a folder using a reserved name. However, this may cause other problems and is not advisable, especially for more inexperienced users.
While there is no mystery about this issue, it might have saved user confusion if Windows displayed an explanatory error message when attempting to create a folder with a reserved name as well.
For more detailed information see:
MS-DOS Device Driver Names Cannot be Used as File Names
Last updated: 5th June 2010
First published: 10th August 2007
By Brett M. Christensen
About Hoax-Slayer
Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
