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I'm using SSMS 2014 in an Oracle Virtual Box and I'm trying to save a file to a shared drive that I've previously saved files to.

However, I'm getting an error that says "F:\a.sql The file name is not valid"

The file name that I tried to save above just has the letter "a" in it! No special characters or anything that I can see that would prevent the file from being saved!?

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, do you know how to solve it?

I'm sure there's someone out there!? Any help would be appreciated!

I looked at other "file name is not valid" posts on here, but they were different to the issue I have. I can't save the file at all, regardless of what name I give it.

TIA.

Mr 2017
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  • Most Windows-based OSes no longer allow write access to the root of the drive, which is where you're trying to save. Create a folder and save the file there instead. Does it work now? – Ken White Sep 11 '18 at 16:50
  • Hi Ken, creating a folder then saving the file worked. However, I'd saved over 10 files to the root of the drive previously as recently as Monday this week, without having to create a folder. Do you know why it would now be forcing me to create a folder? TIA – Mr 2017 Sep 12 '18 at 08:43
  • I was also able to save the same file to the root directory just now when I removed a file that was quite large (21MB). Just posting this, in case it helps anyone else. – Mr 2017 Sep 12 '18 at 09:39
  • I have no idea why it might have changed, I'm afraid. Who administers the system where the drive is located and your network? – Ken White Sep 12 '18 at 12:31

1 Answers1

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: and \ have special meaning in Windows pathnames, and are therefore not legal characters in filenames. Therefore, the filename F:\a.sql is not legal.

My best guess is that you passed a pathname as an argument to a subroutine that expects a filename as parameter.

Jörg W Mittag
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  • Hi Jorg - Ken's suggestion above ie creating a folder, worked. All the previous files I'd saved weren't in a folder, though. So I don't know why this error popped up suddenly? – Mr 2017 Sep 12 '18 at 08:44
  • I believe the poster was trying to write the file `a.sql` to the root of the `F:` drive. The post mentions a *shared drive*. – Ken White Sep 12 '18 at 12:29