$re = '/(C:(?:\\\\.+){8}(?:\\\\|\n|$))/U';
$str = 'C:\\Users\\USERNAME
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderB
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderC
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderD
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderB
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderC
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderD
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderB
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderC
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderD
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderB
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderC
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderD
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderB\\level3a
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderB\\level3b
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderB\\level3c
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderB\\level3d
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderC\\level3a
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderC\\level3b
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderC\\level3c
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderC\\level3d
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderD\\level3a
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderD\\level3b
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderD\\level3c
C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\Desktop\\level1\\folder\\folderA\\folderA\\folderA\\folderD\\level3d';
preg_match_all($re, $str, $matches, PREG_SET_ORDER, 0);
// Print the entire match result
var_dump($matches);
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php