What does NTSTATUS 0xC000003A (STATUS_OBJECT_PATH_NOT_FOUND) mean?

Status / error code:		Category:

Constant name:
Source:		Operating System:
Description: an intermediate component of the object path could not be resolved.

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STATUS_OBJECT_PATH_INVALID	STATUS_OBJECT_PATH_SYNTAX_BAD

STATUS_OBJECT_PATH_NOT_FOUND

STATUS_OBJECT_PATH_NOT_FOUND indicates that the lookup failed before Windows reached the final object name. In a file-system path, a parent directory may be missing; in a native object path, the missing component can belong to another namespace level or to the root directory used for relative resolution.

Why the distinction matters

This status is not interchangeable with STATUS_OBJECT_NAME_NOT_FOUND. When the final file name is absent but its parent exists, the latter is the more specific result. A path-not-found result instead points to a missing or unusable intermediate component. Network redirectors can also return it when a request relies on a feature such as a stream that the remote file system does not support.

What to inspect

Validate every parent component after path expansion, including drive mappings, UNC share names, mount points, and junction targets.
For code using a native OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES structure, log ObjectName and whether RootDirectory is set.
Check whether a trailing separator or a directory-only option changes the object type expected by the call.
On remote storage, verify that the requested path syntax and optional features are supported by that server.

The useful repair is usually to correct the namespace or provisioning state, not to retry the same request without changing anything.

See MRxCreate, NtCreateFile, and the NTSTATUS reference.

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