title: WindowsError: Error 2 The system cannot find the file specified
body: <p>I'm learning Python (with Python 3.2) and have been following a few manuals.  In one, I was asked to change my current directory to one that contains a particular file I was asked to make and place there. I've been encountering the following error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>&gt;&gt;&gt; import os
  &gt;&gt;&gt; os.getcwd()
  'C:\\Users\\the mine comp'
  &gt;&gt;&gt; os.chdir("../Desktop")
  Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "&lt;pyshell#24&gt;", line 1, in &lt;module&gt;
      os.chdir("../Desktop")
  WindowsError: [Error 2] The system cannot find the file specified: '../Desktop'
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I have tried these:</p>
  
  <pre><code>os.chdir("/Desktop")
  os.chdir("\Desktop")
  os.chdir(r"/Desktop")
  os.chdir(r"\Desktop")
  os.chdir("../Desktop")
  os.chdir("..\Desktop")
  os.chdir(r"../Desktop")
  os.chdir(r"..\Desktop")
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The only related information I found before resorting to asking here was utilizing raw strings for Windows path variables (sadly this is all happening on a Vista netbook), and normalizing the pathname with <b>normpath(path)</b>.  I have tried the former as displayed above (am I using it right?), and I don't fully understand how to utilize the latter, or if it is even applicable to my problem.  </p>
  
  <p>The only other bit I've come across is that I may be invoking an escape character using backslashes in strings, but the raw string syntax ought to have taken care of that issue, right?  Also, I should note that the directory I am aiming to get to is this:</p>
  
  <pre><code> C:\users\the mine comp\Desktop
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Any suggestions?</p>