NVDA exits during startup when the portable copy is stored in a long path #20840

Brief summary

NVDA exits during startup when its portable copy is stored under a sufficiently long directory path. The failure occurs while loading the WinRT Bluetooth extension module.

Steps to reproduce

1. Quit all running NVDA instances.

2. Under D:\NVDA_LONG_TEST, create a directory whose name contains exactly 180 lowercase n characters.

3. Copy the NVDA portable directory into it.

4. Set portableRoot to the copied NVDA directory and verify the path lengths:

   $portableRoot = 'D:\NVDA_LONG_TEST\' + ('n' * 180) + '\NVDA2026.3beta1'
   
   $portableRoot.Length
   (Join-Path $portableRoot 'winrt._winrt_windows_devices_bluetooth.pyd').Length

   The output should be:

   214
   257
   

5. Start NVDA with add-ons disabled and debug logging enabled:

   & (Join-Path $portableRoot 'nvda.exe') `
       --disable-addons `
       --debug-logging `
       --log-file (Join-Path $env:TEMP 'nvda-long-path.log')

Actual behavior

NVDA exits with code 1 before the main window and system tray icon become available. No speech is produced.

The log contains an error similar to:

ImportError: DLL load failed while importing _winrt_windows_devices_bluetooth:
The filename or extension is too long

The failing module is:

winrt._winrt_windows_devices_bluetooth.pyd

Expected behavior

NVDA should complete startup. Failure to load Bluetooth support should not terminate the entire NVDA process.

NVDA logs, crash dumps and other attachments

No response

NVDA type

portable copy, installer/launcher copy

NVDA version

NVDA 2026.1 and NVDA 2026.3beta1.

Have you tried any other versions of NVDA? If so, please report their behaviors.

None

Windows version

Windows 10 Pro 22H2, build 19045, 64-bit.

Name and version of other software in use when reproducing the issue

Windows PowerShell. No other application is required.

Other information about your system

The portable copy is stored on the local D: drive.

Does the issue still occur after restarting your computer?

I have restarted my computer and the issue still occurs

If NVDA add-ons are disabled, is your problem still occurring?

I have restarted NVDA with add-ons disabled and the issue still occurs

Does the issue still occur after you run the System Accessibility Repair Tool (COM Registration Fixing Tool in older versions) in NVDA's tools menu?

I have run the System Accessibility Repair Tool and the issue still occurs