Someone asked me recently how to find the path to where Windows is installed. Well it’s pretty easy using the code below:
var path = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Windows);
Turns out there is a wealth of path information using the Environment.Special folder enumuration. Here is the output from my XP development machine:
Desktop - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\Desktop Programs - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\Start Menu\Programs Personal - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\My Documents Personal - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\My Documents Favorites - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\Favorites Startup - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\Start Menu\Programs\Startup Recent - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\Recent SendTo - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\SendTo StartMenu - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\Start Menu MyMusic - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\My Documents\My Music MyVideos - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\My Documents\My Videos DesktopDirectory - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\Desktop MyComputer - NetworkShortcuts - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\NetHood Fonts - C:\WINDOWS\Fonts Templates - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\Templates CommonStartMenu - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu CommonPrograms - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs CommonStartup - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup CommonDesktopDirectory - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop ApplicationData - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\Application Data PrinterShortcuts - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\PrintHood LocalApplicationData - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\Local Settings\Application Data InternetCache - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files Cookies - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\Cookies History - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\Local Settings\History CommonApplicationData - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data Windows - C:\WINDOWS System - C:\WINDOWS\system32 ProgramFiles - C:\Program Files MyPictures - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\My Documents\My Pictures UserProfile - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave SystemX86 - C:\WINDOWS\system32 ProgramFilesX86 - CommonProgramFiles - C:\Program Files\Common Files CommonProgramFilesX86 - CommonTemplates - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Templates CommonDocuments - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents CommonAdminTools - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools AdminTools - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools CommonMusic - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Music CommonPictures - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Pictures CommonVideos - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Videos Resources - C:\WINDOWS\resources LocalizedResources - CommonOemLinks - CDBurning - C:\Documents and Settings\dotNetDave\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\CD Burning
Tip by: David McCarter
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Hey thanks for this great post! I already knew how to retrieve various special folder paths but your listing of all the enumerations with sample paths really helps to visualize what it provides.