peass-ng/PEASS-ng · error · ArgumentException

Resources.InvalidDriveLetterArgument

Error message

Resources.InvalidDriveLetterArgument

What it means

After normalizing driveName (single letter + ':' or GetPathRoot), DriveInfo throws ArgumentException with Resources.InvalidDriveLetterArgument when the normalized result is still blank — the string was non-empty but not a recognizable drive root.

Source

Thrown at winPEAS/winPEASexe/winPEAS/3rdParty/AlphaFS/Device/DriveInfo.cs:72

      /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException"/>
      /// <exception cref="ArgumentException"/>
      /// <param name="driveName">
      ///   A valid drive path or drive letter.
      ///   <para>This can be either uppercase or lowercase,</para>
      ///   <para>'a' to 'z' or a network share in the format: \\server\share</para>
      /// </param>
      [SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Design", "CA1062:Validate arguments of public methods", MessageId = "0", Justification = "Utils.IsNullOrWhiteSpace validates arguments.")]
      [SecurityCritical]
      public DriveInfo(string driveName)
      {
         if (Utils.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(driveName))
            throw new ArgumentNullException("driveName");


         driveName = driveName.Length == 1 ? driveName + Path.VolumeSeparatorChar : Path.GetPathRoot(driveName, false);

         if (Utils.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(driveName))
            throw new ArgumentException(Resources.InvalidDriveLetterArgument, "driveName");


         _name = Path.AddTrailingDirectorySeparator(driveName, false);

         // Initiate VolumeInfo() lazyload instance.
         _volumeInfo = new VolumeInfo(_name, false, true);

         // Initiate DiskSpaceInfo() lazyload instance.
         _dsi = new DiskSpaceInfo(_name, null, false, true);
      }

      #endregion // Constructors


      #region Properties

      /// <summary>Indicates the amount of available free space on a drive.</summary>
      /// <returns>The amount of free space available on the drive, in bytes.</returns>

View on GitHub (pinned to 53fb989abc)

Solutions

1. Pass a valid drive root: 'C:\\', 'C:', or a complete UNC '\\\\server\\share\\'
2. Pre-validate with Path.GetPathRoot and reject empty roots before construction
3. Verify mapped drives exist (disconnected mappings may not normalize correctly)
4. Use DriveInfo.GetDrives() to list valid drive names instead of guessing

Example fix

// before
var di = new DriveInfo(selectedItem); // "Data (E:)" label from UI
// after
var di = new DriveInfo(DriveInfo.GetDrives()
    .First(d => d.Name.Equals("E:\\\\", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)).Name);

var root = Path.GetPathRoot(driveName.Length == 1 ? driveName + ":" : driveName);
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(root))
    throw new ArgumentException("Not a valid drive: " + driveName);
var di = new DriveInfo(root);

static bool IsValidDriveName(string n) =>
    !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(n) &&
    !string.IsNullOrEmpty(Path.GetPathRoot(n.Length == 1 ? n + ":" : n));

try { var di = new DriveInfo(driveName); }
catch (ArgumentException ex) { log.Error("Invalid drive name: " + driveName, ex); }

When it happens

Trigger: new DriveInfo("not-a-drive"), new DriveInfo("long relative path"), or inputs where Path.GetPathRoot returns an empty string; also malformed device-style paths.

Common situations: Passing a folder path instead of a drive root; passing a mapped-drive label that is disconnected; localized or typo'd drive letters; passing UNC paths missing segments.

Related errors

• Resources.InvalidDriveLetterArgument
• drivePath
• driveName
• Resources.No_Drive_Letters_Available
• deviceName

AI-assisted analysis of peass-ng/PEASS-ng@53fb989abc (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c68179196720f426. Report an issue: GitHub.