Get appdata\\local folder path in C# windows service

Question

I am try to get C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local folder path using

Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData)

in a C# Windows service, but it returns some other path

C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local

Does any have any idea how to do it correctly?

Answer 1

Are you running the service under a user account? If not, the service will use its own profile as you see. If this service is "logged into" by a user, then you could pass the folder to the service and bypass local checking. Otherwise, try running the service under a user account (or create an account for it).

Answer 2

The AppData folder for each user is stored in the registry.

Using this path:

const string regKeyFolders = @"HKEY_USERS\<SID>\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders";
const string regValueAppData = @"AppData";

Given a variable sid string containing the users sid, you can get their AppData path like this:

string path=Registry.GetValue(regKeyFolders.Replace("<SID>", sid), regValueAppData, null) as string;