Why You Can’t Name A File CON In Windows
The short answer is “backwards compatibility”. The long answer is… well, it’s the rest of this video.
MORE BASICS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL96C35uN7xGLLeET0dOWaKHkAlPsrkcha
Written with Sean Elliott https://twitter.com/SeanMElliott/
Graphics by William Marler https://wmad.co.uk
Audio mix by Graham Haerther https://haerther.net/
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@jd74mx
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
You also can't make a folder called "Aux"
@thecellhawk
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
Fun fact: You can create CON directory or file using PowerShell.
@boomcrayon
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
This script is just exceptional. I've watched this video before but coming back a few years later, it's remarkable that we had video content of this calibre on the platform once. One guy, talking to camera and reading a script, and it's more engaging than about 99% of this platform. And he's starting with the hook of permitted file names in Windows …
@MadScientistGuitarLab
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
I have code I wrote in the 80s that I can run on windows 11. Not that I have to. But I can!
One really hard thing to work with is a program that requires fileblocks, or FB. Years ago, I had to retrofit an office that ran old software on a new computer. It was a huge PITA to get it running.
@AI_Image_Master
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
Just reenforced how old I feel because I instantly though that CON is a reserved word for console and how many times I must have typed "copy con"
@anonymususer1728
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
Uhmm, LST works.
I know this video is 5 years old, so … did they somehow change their mind on LST in the meantime ?
@LandCrusa
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
I would say the right order is application -> device driver -> device file -> printer
If copy a file to LPT you bypass the device driver and the file must already be in a format that the printer understands.
@YouToobPlaylists
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
Darn it my name is LPT1
@Zarathustra-H-
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
You know, I remember using the command "copy con" in DOS back in the day, but I never realized that I couldn't call a file con.
@edfernandezdev
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
Ehem, TPM, 😉
@Cr1sOnTop
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
as a linux user i see this as an absolute win
@melindaracz2072
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
As a Win11 user, it's so heartwarming to hear and experience that my OS is compatible with printers older than me while refusing to run on anything manufactured before 2017.
@Asome3333e1
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
Well that sucks for my 17,576 file plan to name a bunch of files using 3 letters.
@gravel-gca
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
for anyone curious: on Win11, "COM0", "LPT0", and "LST" all seem to be usable file names. All of the others are still unusable
@etgrhrehgehetb
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
Nothing makes me more irrationally angry than being told I can't do something I hadn't ever previously wanted to do based on a very valid reason.
@Mihalis-u5y
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
Fun fact: you can now name a file/folder CON.txt in Windows 11. Only took 45 years, CONgrats Microsoft.
@cerealbowl7038
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
I wish that Microsoft still cared about backwards compatibility.
@KonradGolinski
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
4:07 That's not true, this comes from Windows NT 3.1, which is different and not built on top of DOS. In fact, modern versions of Windows (2000 and up) run on the Windows NT kernel, which is far superior.
@coenair1144
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
Damn it but my name is LPT6 🙁
@Sal0mon
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
Con means stupid in French
@JGHFunRun
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
Windows: CON is a DOS device, please do not create it.
Also Windows: isatty() is deprecated. Please use _isatty() as it is technically platform-specific (even though it's supported by all of the other top 120938u729805673624592473owayhf98574276 major operating systems with the exact same usage)
Edit: Also, you can create these files using WSL (navigate to /mnt/c/ to access C: from within WSL), but I don't know of any other methods to do so
@AaronDC83
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
The Conheads are gonna love this
@Goldev
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
fun fact :
in windows 3.1 and 95, if you try to run C:CONCON, they will crash and bluescreen, because it will try to run something that isn't a program or just doesn't exist, and like a highway, would overflow the stack and corrupt the memory causing the system to crash. yes it's recoverable (scandisk will fix the errors). no, it doesn't work on later versions of windows
@FlightlessAviator
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
0:46: Actually in windows 11, you can name a file 'CON.txt'. I just tried it. Just 'CON' by itself is still invalid tho.
@calder-r7t
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
my laptop doesn't have that port… it has USB A and USB C.
also: what is a USB B look like?
@Aperturescience1945
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
Just search what con mean in french
@ahmedalmeleh
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
Try telling windows 11 that most of the old pcs before coffee lake will go to landfill unless people use linux.
@elgunlee
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
What if we name it con on MacOS or Linux then send it to Windows over network as zip etc?
@the57thtri
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
3:57 is a bit misleading; modern windows is built of Windows NT, introduced in 1993, and is completely independent (mostly) of MS-DOS. Home versions of Windows didn’t use NT until 2001, however. The dialog box you’re referencing is from Windows NT 3.1 (maybe 3.51?), not Windows 3.1.
@SleepInin-i9x
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
theres plenty of things you cant name a file in windows….
@TheodoreS.K
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
Did you know: That we share the same name together.
@𰀇
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
mkdir con
@mouniirob
October 8, 2025 at 9:22 pm
rem_+_+##$ove m-
_usic its forb++_–_idden pleaseComments are closed.