Special Character in windows file name.

Question

why we can not use any special character (?, <..) in windows File name ?

Answer 1

Fundamental rules for for Universal Naming Convention (UNC),which enable applications to create and process valid names for files and directories, regardless of the file system:

following reserved characters:

    * < (less than)
    * > (greater than)
    * : (colon)
    * " (double quote)
    * / (forward slash)
    * \ (backslash)
    * | (vertical bar or pipe)
    * ? (question mark)
    * * (asterisk)

Use any character in the current code page for a name, including Unicode characters and characters in the extended character set (128–255),

Answer 2

Because they have special meanings in filesystem:

C:*.? - get all files with single letter extensions from C drive

: \ * ? - all have special meanings

Answer 3

Since some character are Reserved characters in some operating system,say ? is used as wildcard,/ as path name component separator.