Access to the path is denied

Question

For my WPF application, I have to create folders with images files for eg: C:\Pearl\Src\TEMP. Later when those files are not needed, I am deleting the folders programmatically. But I get "Access to the path ' ' is denied". I also tried to assign access rights to the temporary folders created but not of much use.

using System.IO;

var activeDir = Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);

var dInfo = Directory.GetParent(Path.GetDirectoryName(activeDir);

var dSecurity = dInfo.GetAccessControl();

dSecurity.AddAccessRule(new FileSystemAccessRule(@"ATSDEV\ABCD", FileSystemRights.DeleteSubdirectoriesAndFiles, AccessControlType.Allow));

dInfo.SetAccessControl(dSecurity); // Set the new access settings.

var ImageDir = Path.Combine(dInfo.ToString(), "TEMP");

System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(ImageDir, dSecurity);

Can you post the exact line that throw the exception ? Seems like the error is your way to get the pathname — LoSciamano, Jun 07 '11 at 16:16
Are you sure you have not got any handles (files) still open? — Polyfun, Jun 07 '11 at 16:19
It's called **[UAC](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5210575/does-windows-7-have-the-same-problem-as-vista/5210642#5210642)**. You aren't supposed to be writing to that directory at all. Luckily, there are alternatives. — Cody Gray - on strike, Jun 07 '11 at 16:23
Thanks for the response. I have windows xp. Still I tried the above appdata folder. Its still the same. The path now is C:\Documents and settings\UserName\Application Data\672011115302AM — user296623, Jun 07 '11 at 16:49
LoSciamano: Here is the code where its throwing error: File.Delete(p_folderpath); where p_folderpath is C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\672011115302AM — user296623, Jun 07 '11 at 16:51
this sounds weird but XP has a weak user access controll. Maybe you can use Temp directory as [this reply](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6268326/access-to-the-path-is-denied/6268604#6268604) suggest — LoSciamano, Jun 07 '11 at 17:02

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 07 '11 at 16:19

8

In Vista+, you shouldn't ever write to the installation folders or parent folders of the executing process. Instead, you should consider writing to a subdirectory in the User's AppData folder, as this will be more appropriate, and not cause permission issues.

You can get the appropriate folder via Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData).

answered Jun 07 '11 at 16:19

Reed Copsey

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Thanks for the response. I have windows xp. Still I tried the above appdata folder. Its still the same. The path now is C:\Documents and settings\UserName\Application Data\672011115302AM – user296623 Jun 07 '11 at 16:49
@user296623: Yes, and in XP, it's preferred to do that too. In Vista+, though, you'll have even more issues... – Reed Copsey Jun 07 '11 at 16:51
@user296623: If you can't delete the folder, it probably means something is holding a handle to a file open inside of it... – Reed Copsey Jun 07 '11 at 16:51

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 17 '12 at 13:06

I also had the problem, hence me stumbling on this post. I added the following line of code before and after a Copy / Delete.

Delete

File.SetAttributes(file, FileAttributes.Normal);
File.Delete(file);

Copy

File.Copy(file, dest, true);
File.SetAttributes(dest, FileAttributes.Normal);

Bek Raupov · Answer 3 · 2011-06-07T16:52:44.517

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or you can use Path.GetTempPath() to get path to temp directory and create your temp data in there.

good thing about using Temp is that if you got forget/fail to clean it up, when drive space is slow, system can help you to clean it up.

edited Jun 07 '11 at 16:52

answered Jun 07 '11 at 16:38

Bek Raupov

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Access to the path is denied

3 Answers3