Check if a file/directory exists: is there a better way?

Question

I find myself doing this a lot just to ensure the filename is not in use. Is there a better way?

Directory.Exists(name) || File.Exists(name)

Answer 1

How about checking whether FileAttributes == -1?

public static bool PathExists(this string path) {
    DirectoryInfo dirInfo = null;
    try { dirInfo = new DirectoryInfo(path.TrimEnd(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar)); }
    catch { }
    if (dirInfo == null || dirInfo.Attributes == (FileAttributes)(-1))
        return false;
    return true;
}