File path issues in R using Windows ("Hex digits in character string" error)

Question

I run R on Windows, and have a csv file on the Desktop. I load it as follows,

x<-read.csv("C:\Users\surfcat\Desktop\2006_dissimilarity.csv",header=TRUE) 

but the R gives the following error message

Error: '\U' used without hex digits in character string starting "C:\U"

So what's the correct way to load this file. I am using Vista

Answer 1

replace all the \ with \\.

it's trying to escape the next character in this case the U so to insert a \ you need to insert an escaped \ which is \\