BA751: Invalid (space-dot) file or folder names were found¶
| Error code | Product | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| BA751 | BackupAssist | For BackupAssist 15.0.2 or later. |
Description¶
NTFS does not normally allow a file or folder name to end in a space or a dot, but some applications create such names through low-level calls, and they can also arrive with data copied from other platforms. BackupAssist reports this condition when it finds one or more of these "space-dot" names in the backup selection.
What happens to these items depends on the BackupAssist version and the backup engine:
- Version 15.0.3 and later: the items are backed up and a warning (BA751) is shown. Restore normalises the non-standard names, so on these versions this is a hygiene issue rather than a backup-integrity one.
- Version 15.0.2: for File Protection and Cloud Backup jobs the affected items were skipped and not backed up (reported as a major warning). Legacy System Protection, System Protection and File Archiving (Zip) jobs still included the items (reported as a minor warning). This skip was a regression in 15.0.2 and was corrected in 15.0.3.
- Before 15.0.2: the items were backed up and this condition was not reported.
Important - if you ran version 15.0.2: File Protection and Cloud Backup jobs on 15.0.2 may have omitted space-dot items from the backup. Do not assume those items are recoverable from a 15.0.2 backup - check the backup, or upgrade to 15.0.3 or later and re-run and verify a backup, before relying on it.
Common causes:
- Files or folders created by non-Windows systems (NAS appliances, Linux/macOS shares).
- Data migrated or restored from another platform.
- Applications that create names using native NT paths rather than the Win32 API.
Resolution¶
Resolution 1 - Review and rename the affected items (recommended, all versions)¶
Check the File Replication / Log section of the backup report to see which items were flagged. If the trailing space or dot is not intentional, rename or remove the affected files or folders. A name that ends in a dot cannot be renamed with Windows Explorer or ordinary command-line tools; use an elevated PowerShell prompt and prefix the path with \\?\ so Windows addresses the name literally.
On version 15.0.3 and later, BackupAssist backs up and restores these items using a dedicated path that normalises the names, so renaming them is about tidiness rather than recoverability. On 15.0.2, renaming the items (or upgrading to 15.0.3 or later) is how you ensure File Protection and Cloud Backup capture them.
Resolution 2 - Suppress the warning per job (version 15.0.3 and later)¶
If the names are expected and you do not want the warning on every run, turn on the Ignore the Space-Dot path syntax warnings option in the job's Settings. This only hides the warning; it does not change what is backed up.
Note on the backup report¶
The backup report shows: Found invalid (space-dot) syntax. When many items are affected, the list of paths in the report is capped and shown as partial.
| Last updated | Created | Further assistance |
|---|---|---|
| 15th Sep 2026 | 6th Aug 2026 | BackupAssist Support page |