"No Instance(s) Available" error with the wmic command

Question

I'm getting a "No Instance(s) Available" error with the wmic command. The command I'm running (from an elevated/administrator cmd.exe window) is:

G:\>wmic datafile where name="file.txt" get creationdate
No Instance(s) Available

The file "file.txt" does exist.

I have found some mention of this problem in other SU questions/answers like the answer here:

Windows Command to get all information/properties of a file

but I have not found any mention of how to fix (or even troubleshoot) this problem.

I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium x64.

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When I run "wmic datafile /?" I get usage syntax help:

G:\>wmic datafile /?

DATAFILE - DataFile Management.

HINT: BNF for Alias usage.
(<alias> [WMIObject] | <alias> [<path where>] | [<alias>] <path where>) [<verb clause>].

USAGE:

DATAFILE ASSOC [<format specifier>]
DATAFILE CALL <method name> [<actual param list>]
DATAFILE CREATE <assign list>
DATAFILE DELETE
DATAFILE GET [<property list>] [<get switches>]
DATAFILE LIST [<list format>] [<list switches>]

Solution

I'm getting a "No Instance(s) Available" error with the following wmic command.

G:\>wmic datafile where name="file.txt" get creationdate

You need to provide the full name (including the drive and path) of the file.

Example:

F:\test>wmic datafile where name="C:\\Windows\\system32\\notepad.exe" get CreationDate
CreationDate
20090714005636.838522+060

Note the use of \\ to escape a single \ in the above example name string.

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If you wish to include the following special characters in your string, you must first escape the character by prefixing the character with a backslash (\):

• backslash (\\)
• double quotes (\")
• single quotes (\')

Source WHERE Clause

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What are the valid keywords (name, path, ...) for the where clause with datafile?

You can get the property list from the command line using:

wmic datafile get /?

Any of the property names can be used in a where clause.

F:\test>wmic datafile get /?

Property get operations.
USAGE:

GET [<property list>] [<get switches>]
NOTE: <property list> ::= <property name> | <property name>,  <property list>

The following properties are available:
Property                                Type                    Operation
========                                ====                    =========
Access Rights                           N/A                     N/A
Caption                                 N/A                     N/A
Class Name                              N/A                     N/A
Compressed                              N/A                     N/A
Compression Method                      N/A                     N/A
Computer System Class Name              N/A                     N/A
Computer System Name                    N/A                     N/A
Creation Date                           N/A                     N/A
Current File Open Count                 N/A                     N/A
Description                             N/A                     N/A
Drive                                   N/A                     N/A
Eight Dot Three File Name               N/A                     N/A
Encrypted                               N/A                     N/A
Encryption Method                       N/A                     N/A
File Extension                          N/A                     N/A
File Name                               N/A                     N/A
File System Class Name                  N/A                     N/A
File System Name                        N/A                     N/A
File Type                               N/A                     N/A
Hidden                                  N/A                     N/A
Install Date                            N/A                     N/A
Last Accessed                           N/A                     N/A
Last Modified                           N/A                     N/A
Manufacturer                            N/A                     N/A
Name                                    N/A                     N/A
Path                                    N/A                     N/A
Readable                                N/A                     N/A
Should Be Archived                      N/A                     N/A
Size                                    N/A                     N/A
Status                                  N/A                     N/A
System File                             N/A                     N/A
Version                                 N/A                     N/A
Writeable                               N/A                     N/A

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Further Reading

• WMIC Best practices

• WHERE Clause

Comments

[Ramhound]

What is the output on wmic datafile /? Does this apply to your described file?

[Kevin Fegan]

@Ramhound - That article talks about "Windows Server 2008 R2 configured with failover clustering". I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium x64, so although it is the same error message, I don't think it applies to me. The file is on a partition on my desktop hard drive. It happens with any file I have tried, even something like C:\Windows\system32\notepad.exe"

[DavidPostill]

@KevinFegan msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394054.aspx: You may use string literals, such as "NTFS", in a WHERE clause. If you wish to include the following special characters in your string, you must first escape the character by prefixing the character with a backslash (\): backslash (\\) double quotes (\") single quotes (\')

[DavidPostill]

@KevinFegan See my answer. You need to escape a single backslash \ and use \\ instead (as well as use drive and path)

[DavidPostill]

@KevinFegan See technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc758713%28v=ws.10%29.as‌​px for some examples ...

[Ramhound]

This is more or less where my thought was going with my link

[Kevin Fegan]

I tried wmic datafile where name="C:\\Windows\\system32\\notepad.exe" get CreationDate (and even wmic datafile where name="C:notepad.exe" get CreationDate) and well... they work ! (you knew they would). I am sure I tried that before when it was failing, but I probably had something else wrong with the command syntax at the time. Thanks for your help. Do you have a link to info about valid keywords (name, path, ...) for the WHERE clause with DATAFILE?

[DavidPostill]

@KevinFegan No link, but you can get the property list from the command line using wmic datafile get /?. Any property name can be used in a where clause as I understand it.

[Kevin Fegan]

... wmic datafile get /? That was it. Thanks again. I was trying wmic datafile where /?, which doesn't return anything very useful.