Process.Start can not find file specified, but it is definitely there - why?

Question

I am trying to run the DJOIN command from C#. (It is present by default in the c:\windows\system32 directory on Win 10.)

When I run the following:

ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo();
psi.UseShellExecute = false;
psi.FileName = @"c:\windows\system32\djoin.exe";
psi.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
psi.Arguments = "/C toast";
using (Process proc = Process.Start(psi))
{
using (StreamReader reader = proc.StandardOutput)
{
   string result = reader.ReadToEnd();
   MessageBox.Show(result);
}

I get a "file not found" error:

An unhandled exception of type 'System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception' occurred in System.dll    
Additional information: The system cannot find the file specified

However, if I use another "out of the box" .exe, such as "tasklist.exe" it works fine. E.g.:

proc.StartInfo.FileName = "tasklist.exe";

Gives me the following output:

What happens if you set `UseShellExecute` to `true`? Is djoin.exe in your system path? — rory.ap, May 05 '16 at 15:30
it smells like a problem with the `path` variable. What happens if you do `proc.StartInfo.FileName = @"c:\windows\system32\djoin.exe";` — Sam I am says Reinstate Monica, May 05 '16 at 15:32
why are you creating `proc` if are only using the StartInfo to create another process? — Arturo Menchaca, May 05 '16 at 15:40
@usr - System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception (0x80004005): The system cannot find the file specified at System.Diagnostics.Process.StartWithCreateProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo) at System.Diagnostics.Process.Start() at System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(ProcessStartInfo startInfo) at AMBootstrapper.MainWindow.Button_Click(Object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) in c:\..\MainWindow.xaml.cs:line 108 — Ben, May 05 '16 at 15:43
What happens when you open `cmd.exe`, then type `cd c:\windows\system32`, then type `djoin.exe /?`? — Quantic, May 05 '16 at 15:44
@Quantic (it also works from any directory, proving that the path variable is working properly) — Ben, May 05 '16 at 15:47

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 05 '16 at 17:05

you can also disable to folder redirection for 64bit OS

[System.Runtime.InteropServices.DllImport("Kernel32.Dll", EntryPoint = "Wow64EnableWow64FsRedirection")]
public static extern bool EnableWow64FSRedirection(bool enable);


        EnableWow64FSRedirection(false);

        try
        {
            ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo();
            psi.UseShellExecute = false;
            psi.FileName = @"c:\windows\system32\djoin.exe";
            psi.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
            psi.Arguments = " /C toast ";
            using (Process proc = Process.Start(psi))
            {
                using (System.IO.StreamReader reader = proc.StandardOutput)
                {
                    string result = reader.ReadToEnd();
                    MessageBox.Show(result);
                }
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
        }
        EnableWow64FSRedirection(true);

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:30

0

Turns out the issue was that DJOIN.exe is 64-bit. My app was running in 32-bit, so I changed the platform to X64 and it worked.

See: Start process as 64 bit

edited May 23 '17 at 12:30

Community

1
1

answered May 05 '16 at 16:12

Ben

4,281
8
62
103

Any bitness can start a process of any bitness. Your app probably was 32 bit virtualized and the OS pretended the file did not exist. – usr May 05 '16 at 16:29
it was caused by folder redirection for the 64bit os – Sorceri May 05 '16 at 17:03

score -1 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 07 '16 at 15:16

-1

Try to run the cmd command where your application is a parameter. The following works for me:

ProcessStartInfo processInfo = new ProcessStartInfo("cmd", @"djoin.exe /C toast");

processInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
processInfo.UseShellExecute = false;

Process ProcessObj = new Process();
ProcessObj.StartInfo = processInfo;

ProcessObj.Start();

edited Dec 07 '16 at 15:16

alexeykuzmin0

6,344
2
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answered Dec 07 '16 at 10:29

Henrique Costa

1

Process.Start can not find file specified, but it is definitely there - why?

3 Answers3