I am trying to create an accessible (hands-free – neither mouse nor keyboard) replacement for (file) Explorer; NET 7.0; Windows 10 & 11. I am stuck trying to get the list of partitions, folders and files from a NAS. As an example, my NAS has this address: \169.254.8.92; if I put that into the address bar of File Explorer and press enter the NAS with all of its partition shows up. Thereafter, I can double-click any of the visible partitions to drill down with File Explorer.

Here is some example code:

      private bool ListPath(string pFolder = "") {
         string directory = pFolder;

         try {
            sFolderList.Clear();
            sFileList.Clear();
            if ((string.IsNullOrEmpty(directory)) || !Path.Exists(directory))
               directory = @"C:";
            sFolderList = Directory.GetDirectories(directory).ToList();
            sFileList = Directory.GetFiles(directory).ToList();
            sFolderList.Sort();
            sFileList.Sort();
            addressTextBox.Text = directory;
            sCurrentPath = directory;
         }
         catch (UnauthorizedAccessException) {
            TimedMessage("ListCurrentPath – Access Denied to:" +
               Environment.NewLine + directory, "ACCESS DENIED");
            return false;
         }
         catch (Exception pException) {
            TimedMessage("ListCurrentPath" +
               Environment.NewLine + pException.ToString());
            return false;
         }
         return true;
      }

The first problem occurs with this statement:

if ((string.IsNullOrEmpty(directory)) || !Path.Exists(directory))
   //          not working as expected:  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   directory = @"C:";

Path.Exists() returns false – possibly a permissions issue. However, if I comment that statement out and let the code continue until I get to the statement:

sFolderList = Directory.GetDirectories(directory).ToList();

I get this:

System.IO.IOException: The specified path is invalid. : '\169.254.8.92'

How may I fill these lists?