This post has been revised since receiving helpful advice from Rey Santos &
Don Varnau.

I am running XP Professional SP2 with 1 GB RAM on a Dell Inspiron 9100
laptop.  Most of my computer work is related to my photography profession.  
Naming files (& copying/moving them) in Windows Explorer is a major, required
part of my work (I have over 10,000 photo files).  

However, recently Windows Explorer won’t allow long filenames (e.g., over 12
characters).  I frequently get a message that a filename is invalid or too
long, even though I have been using/copying filenames equal or longer (e.g.,
30+ characters) for the past two years.  

Also, when I try to copy/move an existing file (with a long filename) from
one folder to another, Windows Explorer freezes & an error message indicates
that it has “encountered a problem & must shut down”.  

With regard to malware, I regularly use programs for detecting viruses (CA’s
eTrust EZ Antivirus) plus CA’s spam control, the Microsoft “Malicious
Software Removal Tool”, ad-ware, etc.

Please advise!

Thank you,

Richard Evans