Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData returns the wrong folder

Question

I have a strange problem: my .NET 4.0 WPF application is saving data to the ApplicationData folder.

 Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData) + "\\myProgram\\";

99.9% of the cases are working great, but on some computers it returns the wrong folder - instead of returning the user folder it returns another folder:

C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\myProgram\  --correct
C:\Users\s\AppData\Roaming\myProgram\       --wrong

The wrong folder has no write/read permission so my program doesn't work.

It seems the program is running under a different user, but if I check the Task Manager the user is the logged one.

The problem seems to be occurring with domain users with few permissions.

Check this answer out: http://stackoverflow.com/a/3953509/33690 — Xaisoft, Jun 05 '13 at 15:30
@bastianonm It's not, it's just that it's better. Won't fix the problem at hand, and the problem has something to do with Shell32... — It'sNotALie., Jun 05 '13 at 15:36
it's not a common problem but it's happening more and more frequently.. I've double check everything but I'm sure I forgot something! — Bastianon Massimo, Jun 05 '13 at 15:41
Shouldn't you be using `LocalApplicationData` instead in the first place? I mean, what's the purpose to roam the data, if the application is only installed on one machine? — Alex Filipovici, Jun 05 '13 at 15:47
@AlexFilipovici yes, now I'm testing CommonApplicationData folder. In this way all user share the same files — Bastianon Massimo, Jun 05 '13 at 15:51
Sorry, no solution! I moved to Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonApplicationData) — Bastianon Massimo, Nov 21 '13 at 08:42
One my my client have same problem on Vista SP2 and I came here due to the same reason... — Ahmed, Sep 11 '15 at 00:35

score 17 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 11 '20 at 20:32

17

Do you also create a text file to write?

If so save a file such as:

String path = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData);

var filePath = Path.Combine(path, "filetowrite.log"); // Handles whether there is a `\` or not.

if (File.Exists(filePath))
{
     ......................
}

Note also before doing any file operations, one should check if directory exists.

edited Oct 11 '20 at 20:32

ΩmegaMan

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answered Jan 31 '14 at 15:49

Alex

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Always use Path.Combine, never "+" as you do not know if the path ends with a backslahs (or uses backslashes at all). – nivs1978 Oct 15 '15 at 11:12

Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData returns the wrong folder

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