FileSystemWatcher to watch UNC path

I just tried this:

var _watcher = new FileSystemWatcher();
_watcher.Path = @"\\10.31.2.221\shared\";
_watcher.NotifyFilter = NotifyFilters.LastWrite | NotifyFilters.FileName;
_watcher.Filter = "*.txt";
_watcher.Created += new FileSystemEventHandler((x, y) =>Console.WriteLine("Created"));
_watcher.Error += new ErrorEventHandler( (x, y) =>Console.WriteLine("Error"));
_watcher.EnableRaisingEvents = true;
Console.ReadKey();

That works without problems, however i replicated your exception just when:

• The running user doesn't have permissions to read the remote folder.
• The remote folder doesn't exist.

Your problem surely is related with permissions, I think that the running user doesn't have the permissions needed.

Another thing that you can try is map the remote folder to one local.

Execute this in the cmd:

NET USE Z: \\server2\Secondary\temp\watch_folder /user:Domain\UserName Password

Then in your code:

_watcher.Path = @"Z:\";

Your service is probably running under a user account that does not have permission to that share. Try changing the windows service to run under different credentials.