Windows 10 cannot access the specified device, path, or file when using full path to executable, running as Administrator

Question

Note : I've replace the directory with a and the exe with b.exe and I've repeat every test I have made to make sure it's not a typing syntax.

I have a very simple piece code of which works perfectly from Windows XP to Windows 7.

var processPath = @"c:\a\b.exe" ; // this exe exists on my computer
Process.Start(processPath); 

and also

Directory.Exists(@"c:\a\") returns false on Windows 10. 

Since Windows 10 (I have not test yet 8 and 8.1) the first code will throws System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception ("Specified file not found") and second will return false. .

I've noticed also that it's the same behaviour when I run "c:\a\b.exe" with the windows run window (Windows Key + R).

Is there any workarounds to solve this issue? In preference, a solution which implies no recompilation.

NB :

• I'm running windows as Administrator
• The user has access to the file (security attribute enable for everyone in the computer).
• c:\b.exe works !!
• I'm not looking for a solution like change your application working directory and run Process.Start("b.exe").

Thank you all,

EDIT :

• The specified path is not WRONG and the file is not missing.
• Every user of the computer as Total control level acceess over the folder and the file (a directory and b.exe)
• Works when I put the exe on the root directory : "c:\b.exe"
• Same behaviour with .bat file with only "echo Hello inside"
• Console.WriteLine(String.Join("\r\n", Directory.GetDirectories(@"c:\"))) display the directory c:\a

UPDATE :

Results of icalcs c:\a\ :

c:\a\ Tout le monde:(OI)(CI)(F)
         BUILTIN\Administrateurs:(I)(OI)(CI)(F)
         AUTORITE NT\SystŠme:(I)(OI)(CI)(F)
         BUILTIN\Utilisateurs:(I)(OI)(CI)(RX)
         AUTORITE NT\Utilisateurs authentifi‚s:(I)(M)
         AUTORITE NT\Utilisateurs authentifi‚s:(I)(OI)(CI)(IO)(M)

Results of icalcs c:\a\b.exe :

c:\a\b.exe Tout le monde:(I)(F)
               BUILTIN\Administrateurs:(I)(F)
               AUTORITE NT\SystŠme:(I)(F)
               BUILTIN\Utilisateurs:(I)(RX)
               AUTORITE NT\Utilisateurs authentifi‚s:(I)(M)

"Tout le monde" means Everyone.

UPDATE :

On the last news, I'm able to do :

File.WriteAllBytes(@"c:\a\b.exe", somebinaries) ; 

But I'm not able to do

FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(@"c:\a\b.exe") ;  

Throwing 'System.NotSupportedException'. StackTrace is as follows:

   à System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermission.QuickDemand(FileIOPermissionAccess access, String fullPath, Boolean checkForDuplicates, Boolean needFullPath)
   à System.IO.FileInfo.Init(String fileName, Boolean checkHost)
   à System.IO.FileInfo..ctor(String fileName)
   à ConsoleApplication1.Program.Main(String[] args) dans F:\MAPW10\Development\Sources\Tools\ConsoleApplication1\Program.cs:ligne 22
   à System.AppDomain._nExecuteAssembly(RuntimeAssembly assembly, String[] args)
   à System.AppDomain.ExecuteAssembly(String assemblyFile, Evidence assemblySecurity, String[] args)
   à Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.HostProc.RunUsersAssembly()
   à System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart_Context(Object state)
   à System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx)
   à System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx)
   à System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
   à System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()

Answer 1

I found it !!

It's some extra non-printable bytes added in file path when Copying / Pasting from some labels in Windows 10 explorer.

Consider this piece of code :

Console.WriteLine(new DirectoryInfo(@"c:\a\"));
Console.WriteLine(new DirectoryInfo(@"‪c:\a\"));  

These line looks the same and should not raise any exception (even if directory c:\a doesn't exist) but actually if you copy/paste the code above in an application, the second line will raise NotSupportedException with words : "The given path's format is not supported".

I've ended up checking .NET source code and I found method StringExpressionSet.Canonicalize which raised NotSupportedException :

...
 if (path.IndexOf( ':', 2 ) != -1)
      throw new NotSupportedException( Environment.GetResourceString( "Argument_PathFormatNotSupported" ) );
...

And actually :

Console.WriteLine(@"c:\a\".IndexOf( ':', 2 )); //  results -1
Console.WriteLine(@"‪c:\a\".IndexOf( ':', 2 )); //  result 2
// Copy/Paste to test

---

Where did I caught it ?

In order to not making any typing mistake, I'm used to copy directory path from Right Click to a file -> Properties -> Security

You are warned now !

Answer 2

...SystŠme
...authentifi‚s

Obfuscating the directory and file name makes it very hard to help you. But there's one obvious rock to look under, getting the accented characters mangled so badly like this should never happen. The machine speaks French but the encoding that appears to be used is 1250, only used in Eastern Europe. A very bizarre mismatch, especially so for a console mode app.

If the real a directory likewise contains characters with diacritics then whatever root cause behind the mangled icalcs.exe program output could affect the file system name encoding as well. Rough conclusion is that this machine is pretty sick and needs help from the geek squad to get better.