pathAsUnc.vb

Public Shared Function pathAsUnc(ByVal fileName As String) As String
  Dim file As New System.IO.FileInfo(filename.ToLowerInvariant)

  If Not file.Exists Then
    Return String.Empty
  End If

  Dim oldDrive As String = file.Directory.Root.FullName
  Dim uncPath As Object = My.Computer.Registry.GetValue("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Network\" & oldDrive.Remove(1), "RemotePath", Nothing)
  Dim uri As Uri
  
  If uncPath Is Nothing Then
    uri = New Uri(file.FullName)
  Else
    uri = New Uri(file.FullName.Replace(oldDrive, uncPath.ToString))
  End If

  Return uri.AbsoluteUri
End Function