Error trace below:

Debugger entered--Lisp error: (file-missing "Setting current directory" "No such file or directory" "c:/emacs/home/temp/\015/")
  call-process("c:/Program Files/Git/git-cmd.exe" nil (t nil) nil "--no-pager" "--literal-pathspecs" "-c" "core.preloadindex=true" "-c" "log.showSignature=false" "-c" "i18n.logOutputEncoding=UTF-8" "config" "--list" "-z")
  apply(call-process "c:/Program Files/Git/git-cmd.exe" nil (t nil) nil ("--no-pager" "--literal-pathspecs" "-c" "core.preloadindex=true" "-c" "log.showSignature=false" "-c" "i18n.logOutputEncoding=UTF-8" "config" "--list" "-z"))
  process-file("c:/Program Files/Git/git-cmd.exe" nil (t nil) nil "--no-pager" "--literal-pathspecs" "-c" "core.preloadindex=true" "-c" "log.showSignature=false" "-c" "i18n.logOutputEncoding=UTF-8" "config" "--list" "-z")
  apply(process-file "c:/Program Files/Git/git-cmd.exe" nil (t nil) nil ("--no-pager" "--literal-pathspecs" "-c" "core.preloadindex=true" "-c" "log.showSignature=false" "-c" "i18n.logOutputEncoding=UTF-8" "config" "--list" "-z"))
  magit-process-file("c:/Program Files/Git/git-cmd.exe" nil (t nil) nil "--no-pager" "--literal-pathspecs" "-c" "core.preloadindex=true" "-c" "log.showSignature=false" "-c" "i18n.logOutputEncoding=UTF-8" "config" "--list" "-z")
  apply(magit-process-file "c:/Program Files/Git/git-cmd.exe" nil (t nil) nil ("--no-pager" "--literal-pathspecs" "-c" "core.preloadindex=true" "-c" "log.showSignature=false" "-c" "i18n.logOutputEncoding=UTF-8" "config" "--list" "-z"))
  magit-git-insert("config" "--list" "-z")
  apply(magit-git-insert ("config" "--list" "-z"))
  magit-git-items("config" "--list" "-z")
  magit-config-get-from-cached-list("magit.extension")
  magit-get-all("magit.extension")
  magit-load-config-extensions()
  run-hooks(change-major-mode-after-body-hook special-mode-hook magit-mode-hook magit-status-mode-hook)
  apply(run-hooks (change-major-mode-after-body-hook special-mode-hook magit-mode-hook magit-status-mode-hook))
  run-mode-hooks(magit-status-mode-hook)
  magit-status-mode()
  magit-setup-buffer-internal(magit-status-mode nil ((magit-buffer-diff-args ("--no-ext-diff")) (magit-buffer-diff-files nil) (magit-buffer-log-args ("-n256" "--decorate")) (magit-buffer-log-files nil)))
  magit-status-setup-buffer("c:/emacs/home/temp/")
  magit-status(nil ((4 . 4) (("c:/emacs/home/temp/\015/" . magit-toplevel) . "c:/emacs/home/temp/\015/") (("c:/emacs/home/temp/" . magit-toplevel) . "c:/emacs/home/temp/\015/") (("c:/emacs/home/temp/" "rev-parse" "--show-toplevel") . "\015")))
  funcall-interactively(magit-status nil ((4 . 4) (("c:/emacs/home/temp/\015/" . magit-toplevel) . "c:/emacs/home/temp/\015/") (("c:/emacs/home/temp/" . magit-toplevel) . "c:/emacs/home/temp/\015/") (("c:/emacs/home/temp/" "rev-parse" "--show-toplevel") . "\015")))
  call-interactively(magit-status record nil)
  command-execute(magit-status record)
  helm-M-x(nil #("magit-status" 0 12 (match-part "magit-status")))
  funcall-interactively(helm-M-x nil #("magit-status" 0 12 (match-part "magit-status")))
  call-interactively(helm-M-x nil nil)
  command-execute(helm-M-x)

I'm having a little trouble with magit and the emacs default-directory variable.

When calling M-x magit-status, an exception is thrown - Setting current directory: No such file or directory, /path/to/git/repo/^M/. I.e. there is an extra carriage return character inserted on the end of the path as though it were another directory level.

For the avoidance of doubt, this is not about carriage returns in a repository file, but rather the path to the repository. Emacs is running on windows, with git for windows.

I'm having a little trouble with magit and the default-directory variable.

When calling M-x magit-status, an exception is thrown - Setting current directory: No such file or directory, /path/to/git/repo/^M/. I.e. there is an extra carriage return character inserted on the end of the path as though it were another directory level.

For the avoidance of doubt, this is not about carriage returns in a repository file, but rather the path to the repository. Emacs is running on windows, with git for windows.