PathFileExists always returning FALSE

[NUCkSL3A]

Hello, I'm having trouble with a bit of code. Here it is:

LPCWSTR path = (L"C:\\windows\\system32\\hal.dll");

	
	if (PathFileExists(path) == TRUE)
	{
	MessageBox(NULL, L"This file exists", L"File exists", MB_OK);
	}
	if (PathFileExists(path) == FALSE)
	{
	MessageBox(NULL, L"This file doesn't exist", L"File doesn't exist", MB_OK);

The problem is that it always returns FALSE. No matter what. I have searched for hours and have not found any solution. Most people simply post a minute later that they figured it out, without actually posting the code or explaining. I am wondering what can I do so it actually says whether or not it exists. (And yes, hal.dll exists.)

[Thomas1965]

Try with some other filenames:

#include <Windows.h>
#include <Shlwapi.h>

#pragma comment(lib, "Shlwapi.lib")

using namespace std;

int main ()
{
  LPCWSTR path = (L"C:\\Windows\\System32\\notepad.exe");

  if (PathFileExists (path))
  {
    MessageBox (NULL, L"This file exists", L"File exists", MB_OK);
  }
  else
  {
    MessageBox (NULL, L"This file doesn't exist", L"File doesn't exist", MB_OK);
  }
  return 0;
}

[tipaye]

This may be something to do with protected operating system files not being visible via this API.

Try finding the same file when copied to a neutral folder (like your downloads folder) - should work

Try finding files with different (non-protected) extensions in C:\Windows\System32 - should work

Try finding other files with protected extensions in C:\Windows\System32 - should not work

This should prove that there's some Windows magic preventing you from finding certain files in certain folders.

Why is this so? Well...

[dhayden]

According to this:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/bb773584%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
You should "Call GetLastError for extended error information."
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms679360%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

[NUCkSL3A]

hmm... Ok, I'll try these and see if it will work. Thx. Update: Yep, it wouldn't find the system files. I tried it on a text document on my desktop. Sure enough, it worked. Problem solved, thanks a lot!