When trying to sync offline files in Windows you may sometimes get an error “parameter is incorrect”.
Before I show you how to fix it, I'll tell you what's most probably gone wrong. This quote is a post I found in the digitalspy forum (see my sources) and explains it beautifully.
"The simplest explanation is that you've exceeded the maximum path and/or file lengths.
On Windows-based platforms, paths must be less than 248 characters, and file names must be less than 260 characters. 'Path' includes all the nested folder names, eg "C:\MyPrograms\Microsoft Office". 'File Names' include the extension."
Now here's a great way to identify which path or file is causing the problem.
- Get the Path Scan app from here http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/File-Management/Path-Scan.shtml (This is an older version of Path Scanner but you need it because it works with UNC paths - i.e. paths that start with double-slash '\\' - whereas the newer version of the program on the official web site does not work with UNC paths, it only works with paths starting with a drive letter, e.g. c:\ and that's useless because the path length problem is all about the length of the full UNC path.)
- Now go online and sync with your server so you can see the sync error "parameter is incorrect" again.
- Look at the error to check the path where the problem occurred.
- Paste this path into Path Scanner and don't forget to add a wildcard, e.g. it must end with ‘\*’
- E.g. \\file-abc01.work.intern\home$\joeblow\*
- In Port Scanner set the "Display files with more than" option to 261 char.
- Then click Scan to locate the files for which the path is too long and do something about them.
- E.g. Back up the file and/or folder that is causing the problem somewhere else, then delete it from the original location and try to sync again.
Sources
