I am trying to delete a registry key sub tree which happens to be SAPI 5 user profile as shown below. The "nameofprofile" is the data value of the subkey and the subkey name is a CLSID but it comes up with an exception telling me that the subkey does not exist?
RegistryKey RegKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey("Software\\Microsoft\\Speech\\RecoProfiles\\Tokens\\", true);
RegKey.DeleteSubKeyTree("NameOfProfile");
You can try this.
string keyName = #"Software\Microsoft\Speech\RecoProfiles\Tokens";
using (RegistryKey key = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(keyName, true))
{
key.DeleteSubKeyTree("NameOfProfile",false);
}
If you get the error again, you can try to run application in administrator mode.
Do a search of the string[] GetSubKeyNames() first and see if the sub key exists.
Try ignoring casing in case that is an issue.
var name = #"Software\Microsoft\Speech\RecoProfiles\Tokens";
var regKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(name, true);
if (regKey != null) {
using (regKey) {
var subKeyName = "CLSID";
var actual = regKey.GetSubKeyNames()
.FirstOrDefault(n => string.Equals(n, subKeyName, StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase));
if (actual != null) {
regKey.DeleteSubKeyTree(actual);
}
}
}
In the end I worked it out myself and I did this which worked fine. I should have said in the post that I always knew the profile name but I did not know the CLSID. No doubt there is an easier way to do this(No special permissions were required which was preferable if possible):
public static void DeleteKey (String profileName)
{
// Folder for SAPI 5 user profile tokens
String keyLocation = #"Software\Microsoft\Speech\RecoProfiles\Tokens";
RegistryKey key = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(keyLocation, true);
// Get a list of Key names and work out which one is the "test" profile
String [] subKeyNames = key.GetSubKeyNames();
// Enumerate through the sub key names to find out which one is the "Test" profile
for(int i = 0; i < subKeyNames.Length; i++)
{
RegistryKey subKey =
Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey("Software\\Microsoft\\Speech\\RecoProfiles\\Tokens\\" + subKeyNames[i]);
if(((String)subKey.GetValue("")).Equals(profileName))
{
key.DeleteSubKeyTree(subKeyNames[i]);
return;
}
}
}
I would to get installed version of an application (say, MyApp) using C#.
I will do this much,
1. Create a 'Set Up' for MyApp of version 5.6
2. Install MyApp.
I will create another application (say VersionTracker)to get the version of installed applications. So if I pass the name 'MyApp' I would like to get the version as '5.6'. If another application say Adobe Reader is installed in my system, I want to get the version of Adobe Reader if I pass 'Adobe Reader'.
I need to know how to build 'VersionTracker'
The first and the most important thing is that not all applications do save their version somewhere in the system. To be honest, only a few of them do that. The place where you should look are the Windows Registry. Most of installed applications put their installation data into the following place:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
However, it's not that easy - on 64bit Windows, the 32bit (x86) applications save their installation data into another key, which is:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
In these keys there are many keys, some of them have got "easy-readable" name, such as Google Chrome, some of them got names such as {63E5CDBF-8214-4F03-84F8-CD3CE48639AD}. You must parse all these keys into your application and start looking for the application names. There are usually in DisplayName value, but it's not always true. The version of the application is usually in DisplayVersion value, but some installers do use another values, such as Inno Setup: Setup Version, ... Some application do have their version written in their name, so it's possible that the application version is already in the DisplayName value.
Note: It's not easy to parse all these registry keys and values and to "pick" the correct values. Not all installers save the application data into these keys, some of them do not save the application version there, etcetera. However, it's usual that the application use these registry keys. [Source: StackOverflow: Detecting installed programs via registry, browsing my own registry]
Alright, so now when you know where you should look, you have to program it all in C#. I won't write the application for you, but I'll tell you what classes you should use and how to. First, you need these:
using System;
using Microsoft.Win32;
To get to your HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, create a RegistryKey like this:
RegistryKey baseRegistryKey = Registry.LocalMachine;
Now you need to define subkeys:
string subKey = "SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall";
// or "SOFTWARE\\Wow6432Node\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall"
Now you need to go to the subkey, so create a new RegistryKey:
RegistryKey uninstallKey = baseRegistryKey.OpenSubKey(subKey);
Now you need to go thru all the subkeys that are there, so first we get the names of all the subkeys:
string[] allApplications = uninstallKey.GetSubKeyNames();
Now you must go thru all the subkeys yourself, one by one, by creating a new registry key (you don't have to, but I'll do it):
RegistryKey appKey = baseRegistryKey.OpenSubKey(subKey + "\\" + applicationSubKeyName);
where applicationSubKeyName is the name of the subkey you're currently checking. I recommend foreach statement, which helps you (you must however have some experience with C# already, I'm not going to tell you how to use foreach here).
Now check the application's name and compare it with name of your desired application (you cannot rely on the subkey name, because, as I already said, they can be called for example {63E5CDBF-8214-4F03-84F8-CD3CE48639AD}, so you must check the name here):
string appName = (string)appKey.GetValue("DisplayName");
If it's the correct application (you must check it yourself), find the version:
string appVersion = (string)appKey.GetValue("DisplayVersion");
Et voilà, you have the version. At least there's like a 60 - 80% chance you have...
Remember! If some key or value doesn't exist, the method returns null. Remember to check if the returned value is null everytime, otherwise your application will crash.
Where to find more? The Code Project: Read, write and delete from registry with C#
I really hope I helped you. And if you wanted to know something else and I didn't understand your question, then, please, ask better next time. :)
///
/// Author : Muhammed Rauf K
/// Date : 03/07/2011
/// A Simple console application to create and display registry sub keys
///
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
// it's required for reading/writing into the registry:
using Microsoft.Win32;
namespace InstallationInfoConsole
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Registry Information ver 1.0");
Console.WriteLine("----------------------------");
Console.Write("Input application name to get the version info. (for example 'Nokia PC Suite'): ");
string nameToSearch = Console.ReadLine();
GetVersion(nameToSearch);
Console.WriteLine("----------------------------");
Console.ReadKey();
}
///
/// Author : Muhammed Rauf K
/// Date : 03/07/2011
/// Create registry items
///
static void Create()
{
try
{
Console.WriteLine("Creating registry...");
// Create a subkey named Test9999 under HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
string subKey;
Console.Write("Input registry sub key :");
subKey = Console.ReadLine();
RegistryKey testKey = Registry.CurrentUser.CreateSubKey(subKey);
Console.WriteLine("Created sub key {0}", subKey);
Console.WriteLine();
// Create two subkeys under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Test9999. The
// keys are disposed when execution exits the using statement.
Console.Write("Input registry sub key 1:");
subKey = Console.ReadLine();
using (RegistryKey testKey1 = testKey.CreateSubKey(subKey))
{
testKey1.SetValue("name", "Justin");
}
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
}
}
static void GetVersion(string nameToSearch)
{
// Get HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
RegistryKey baseRegistryKey = Registry.LocalMachine;
// If 32-bit OS
string subKey
//= "SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall";
// If 64-bit OS
= "SOFTWARE\\Wow6432Node\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall";
RegistryKey unistallKey = baseRegistryKey.OpenSubKey(subKey);
string[] allApplications = unistallKey.GetSubKeyNames();
foreach (string s in allApplications)
{
RegistryKey appKey = baseRegistryKey.OpenSubKey(subKey + "\\" + s);
string appName = (string)appKey.GetValue("DisplayName");
if(appName==nameToSearch)
{
string appVersion = (string)appKey.GetValue("DisplayVersion");
Console.WriteLine("Name:{0}, Version{1}", appName, appVersion);
break;
}
}
}
static void ListAll()
{
// Get HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
RegistryKey baseRegistryKey = Registry.LocalMachine;
// If 32-bit OS
string subKey
//= "SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall";
// If 64-bit OS
= "SOFTWARE\\Wow6432Node\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall";
RegistryKey unistallKey = baseRegistryKey.OpenSubKey(subKey);
string[] allApplications = unistallKey.GetSubKeyNames();
foreach (string s in allApplications)
{
RegistryKey appKey = baseRegistryKey.OpenSubKey(subKey + "\\" + s);
string appName = (string)appKey.GetValue("DisplayName");
string appVersion = (string)appKey.GetValue("DisplayVersion");
Console.WriteLine("Name:{0}, Version{1}", appName, appVersion);
}
}
}
}
Next code base on similar solution is working for me:
var version = GetApplicationVersion("Windows Application Driver");
string GetApplicationVersion(string appName)
{
string displayName;
// search in: CurrentUser
var key = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(#"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall");
foreach (var keyName in key.GetSubKeyNames())
{
var subKey = key.OpenSubKey(keyName);
displayName = subKey.GetValue("DisplayName") as string;
if (appName.Equals(displayName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
return subKey.GetValue("DisplayVersion").ToString();
}
// search in: LocalMachine_32
key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(#"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall");
foreach (var keyName in key.GetSubKeyNames())
{
var subKey = key.OpenSubKey(keyName);
displayName = subKey.GetValue("DisplayName") as string;
if (appName.Equals(displayName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
return subKey.GetValue("DisplayVersion").ToString();
}
// search in: LocalMachine_64
key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(#"SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall");
foreach (var keyName in key.GetSubKeyNames())
{
var subKey = key.OpenSubKey(keyName);
displayName = subKey.GetValue("DisplayName") as string;
if (appName.Equals(displayName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
return subKey.GetValue("DisplayVersion").ToString();
}
// NOT FOUND
return null;
}
I have to insert this to the registry:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows CE Services\AutoStartOnConnect]
"AutoRun"="d:\\MyFolder\\MyProgram.exe"
How would I do this in C#?
Something like this:
string name = #"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows CE Services\AutoStartOnConnect";
using (RegistryKey key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(name, true))
{
if (key == null)
{
// Whatever you want to do if the key isn't found
}
else
{
key.SetValue("AutoRun", #"d:\MyFolder\MyProgram.exe");
}
}
If you use CreateSubKey instead of OpenSubKey, that will create it if it doesn't already exist (or open it for write otherwise) - but I suspect that in most cases, if the key doesn't exist then that indicates the rest of the system isn't in an appropriate state for your app.
You could use the Registry class:
var path = #"Software\Microsoft\Windows CE Services\AutoStartOnConnect";
using (var key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(path, true))
{
if (key != null)
{
key.SetValue("AutoRun", #"d:\MyFolder\MyProgram.exe");
}
}
I have a web application which is importing DLLs from the bin folder.
const string dllpath = "Utility.dll";
[DllImport(dllpath)]
Now what I want to do is first import the DLLs from a folder not in the current project but at some different location.
The path of that folder is stored in a registry key.
How should I do this?
Edit:
Why can't I work this out???
public partial class Reports1 : System.Web.UI.Page
{
RegistryKey registryKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(#"Software\xyz");
string pathName = (string)registryKey.GetValue("BinDir");
const string dllpath = pathName;
[DllImport(dllpath)]
public static extern bool GetErrorString(uint lookupCode, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] StringBuilder buf, uint bufSize);
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string pathName = (string)registryKey.GetValue("BinDir"); is not working here, but is working in the pageload event...
But if I do this DLL import won't work...
How can I fix this?
Reading the registry is pretty straightforward. The Microsoft.Win32 namespace has a Registry static class. To read a key from the HKLM node, the code is:
RegistryKey registryKey = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("Software\\NodeName")
If the node is HKCU, you can replace LocalMachine with CurrentUser.
Once you have the RegistryKey object, use GetValue to get the value from the registry. Continuing Using the example above, getting the pathName registry value would be:
string pathName = (string) registryKey.GetValue("pathName");
And don't forget to close the RegistryKey object when you are done with it (or put the statement to get the value into a Using block).
Updates
I see a couple of things. First, I would change pathName to be a static property defined as:
Private static string PathName
{
get
{
using (RegistryKey registryKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(#"Software\Copium"))
{
return (string)registryKey.GetValue("BinDir");
}
}
}
The two issues were:
The RegistryKey reference will keep the registry open. Using that as a static variable in the class will cause issues on the computer.
Registry path's use forward slashes, not back slashes.
None of these answers worked for me. This is what I used:
static void Main()
{
const string dotNetFourPath = "Software\\Microsoft";//note backslash
using (RegistryKey registryKey = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(dotNetFourPath))
{
Console.WriteLine(registryKey.SubKeyCount);//registry is not null
foreach (var VARIABLE in registryKey.GetSubKeyNames())
{
Console.WriteLine(VARIABLE);//here I can see I have many keys
//no need to switch to x64 as suggested on other posts
}
}
}
All these answers may lead to problems running on 64bit OS - which is usual nowadays.
In my situation, i compile to 'Any CPU' target and the software is working fine when i install on 64bit OS.
But my unit tests are running into problems - obviously they are executed in 32bit mode.
In this case not the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MyCompany\MySoftware is searched but HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\MyCompany\MySoftware but there are no entries!
In this situation we have to specify the start point of our search using
RegistryKey hklm = RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.LocalMachine, RegistryView.Registry64)
In total we can use.
string configurationDirectory = string.Empty;
using (RegistryKey hklm = RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.LocalMachine, RegistryView.Registry64))
{
using (RegistryKey registryKey = hklm.OpenSubKey(#"SOFTWARE\MyCompany\MySoftware"))
{
if (registryKey != null)
{
configurationDirectory = (string)registryKey.GetValue("ConfigurationDirectory");
}
}
}
try
{
RegistryKey regKey = Registry.LocalMachine;
regKey = regKey.OpenSubKey(#"Software\Application\");
if (regKey != null)
{
return regKey.GetValue("KEY NAME").ToString();
}
else
{
return null;
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
return null;
}
You can use this:
/// <summary>
/// To read a registry key.
/// input: KeyName (string)
/// output: value (string)
/// </summary>
public string Read(string KeyName)
{
// Opening the registry key
RegistryKey rk = baseRegistryKey ;
// Open a subKey as read-only
RegistryKey sk1 = rk.OpenSubKey(subKey);
// If the RegistrySubKey doesn't exist -> (null)
if ( sk1 == null )
{
return null;
}
else
{
try
{
// If the RegistryKey exists I get its value
// or null is returned.
return (string)sk1.GetValue(KeyName.ToUpper());
}
catch (Exception e)
{
// AAAAAAAAAAARGH, an error!
ShowErrorMessage(e, "Reading registry " + KeyName.ToUpper());
return null;
}
}
}
For more information visit this web site .
How to get the applications installed in the system using c# code?
Iterating through the registry key "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall" seems to give a comprehensive list of installed applications.
Aside from the example below, you can find a similar version to what I've done here.
This is a rough example, you'll probaby want to do something to strip out blank rows like in the 2nd link provided.
string registry_key = #"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall";
using(Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(registry_key))
{
foreach(string subkey_name in key.GetSubKeyNames())
{
using(RegistryKey subkey = key.OpenSubKey(subkey_name))
{
Console.WriteLine(subkey.GetValue("DisplayName"));
}
}
}
Alternatively, you can use WMI as has been mentioned:
ManagementObjectSearcher mos = new ManagementObjectSearcher("SELECT * FROM Win32_Product");
foreach(ManagementObject mo in mos.Get())
{
Console.WriteLine(mo["Name"]);
}
But this is rather slower to execute, and I've heard it may only list programs installed under "ALLUSERS", though that may be incorrect. It also ignores the Windows components & updates, which may be handy for you.
I wanted to be able to extract a list of apps just as they appear in the start menu. Using the registry, I was getting entries that do not show up in the start menu.
I also wanted to find the exe path and to extract an icon to eventually make a nice looking launcher. Unfortunately, with the registry method this is kind of a hit and miss since my observations are that this information isn't reliably available.
My alternative is based around the shell:AppsFolder which you can access by running explorer.exe shell:appsFolder and which lists all apps, including store apps, currently installed and available through the start menu. The issue is that this is a virtual folder that can't be accessed with System.IO.Directory. Instead, you would have to use native shell32 commands. Fortunately, Microsoft published the Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack-Shell on Nuget which is a wrapper for the aforementioned commands. Enough said, here's the code:
// GUID taken from https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/shell/knownfolderid
var FOLDERID_AppsFolder = new Guid("{1e87508d-89c2-42f0-8a7e-645a0f50ca58}");
ShellObject appsFolder = (ShellObject)KnownFolderHelper.FromKnownFolderId(FOLDERID_AppsFolder);
foreach (var app in (IKnownFolder)appsFolder)
{
// The friendly app name
string name = app.Name;
// The ParsingName property is the AppUserModelID
string appUserModelID = app.ParsingName; // or app.Properties.System.AppUserModel.ID
// You can even get the Jumbo icon in one shot
ImageSource icon = app.Thumbnail.ExtraLargeBitmapSource;
}
And that's all there is to it. You can also start the apps using
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("explorer.exe", #" shell:appsFolder\" + appModelUserID);
This works for regular Win32 apps and UWP store apps. How about them apples.
Since you are interested in listing all installed apps, it is reasonable to expect that you might want to monitor for new apps or uninstalled apps as well, which you can do using the ShellObjectWatcher:
ShellObjectWatcher sow = new ShellObjectWatcher(appsFolder, false);
sow.AllEvents += (s, e) => DoWhatever();
sow.Start();
Edit: One might also be interested in knowing that the AppUserMoedlID mentioned above is the unique ID Windows uses to group windows in the taskbar.
2022: Tested in Windows 11 and still works great. Windows 11 also seems to cache apps that aren't installed per se, portable apps that don't need installing, for example. They appear in the start menu search results and can also be retrieved from shell:appsFolder as well.
I agree that enumerating through the registry key is the best way.
Note, however, that the key given, #"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall", will list all applications in a 32-bit Windows installation, and 64-bit applications in a Windows 64-bit installation.
In order to also see 32-bit applications installed on a Windows 64-bit installation, you would also need to enumeration the key #"SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall".
You can take a look at this article. It makes use of registry to read the list of installed applications.
public void GetInstalledApps()
{
string uninstallKey = #"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall";
using (RegistryKey rk = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(uninstallKey))
{
foreach (string skName in rk.GetSubKeyNames())
{
using (RegistryKey sk = rk.OpenSubKey(skName))
{
try
{
lstInstalled.Items.Add(sk.GetValue("DisplayName"));
}
catch (Exception ex)
{ }
}
}
}
}
While the accepted solution works, it is not complete. By far.
If you want to get all the keys, you need to take into consideration 2 more things:
x86 & x64 applications do not have access to the same registry.
Basically x86 cannot normally access x64 registry. And some
applications only register to the x64 registry.
and
some applications actually install into the CurrentUser registry instead of the LocalMachine
With that in mind, I managed to get ALL installed applications using the following code, WITHOUT using WMI
Here is the code:
List<string> installs = new List<string>();
List<string> keys = new List<string>() {
#"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall",
#"SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall"
};
// The RegistryView.Registry64 forces the application to open the registry as x64 even if the application is compiled as x86
FindInstalls(RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.LocalMachine, RegistryView.Registry64), keys, installs);
FindInstalls(RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.CurrentUser, RegistryView.Registry64), keys, installs);
installs = installs.Where(s => !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(s)).Distinct().ToList();
installs.Sort(); // The list of ALL installed applications
private void FindInstalls(RegistryKey regKey, List<string> keys, List<string> installed)
{
foreach (string key in keys)
{
using (RegistryKey rk = regKey.OpenSubKey(key))
{
if (rk == null)
{
continue;
}
foreach (string skName in rk.GetSubKeyNames())
{
using (RegistryKey sk = rk.OpenSubKey(skName))
{
try
{
installed.Add(Convert.ToString(sk.GetValue("DisplayName")));
}
catch (Exception ex)
{ }
}
}
}
}
}
it's worth noting that the Win32_Product WMI class represents products as they are installed by Windows Installer. not every application use windows installer
however "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall" represents applications for 32 bit. For 64 bit you also need to traverse "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall" and since not every software has a 64 bit version the total applications installed are a union of keys on both locations that have "UninstallString" Value with them.
but the best options remains the same .traverse registry keys is a better approach since every application have an entry in registry[including the ones in Windows Installer].however the registry method is insecure as if anyone removes the corresponding key then you will not know the Application entry.On the contrary Altering the HKEY_Classes_ROOT\Installers is more tricky as it is linked with licensing issues such as Microsoft office or other products.
for more robust solution you can always combine registry alternative with the WMI.
string[] registryKeys = new string[] {
#"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall",
#"SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall" };
public class InstalledApp
{
public string DisplayName { get; set; }
public string DisplayIcon { get; set; }
public string Version { get; set; }
public string InstallLocation { get; set; }
}
private void AddInstalledAppToResultView(RegistryHive hive, RegistryView view, string registryKey,Dictionary<string,InstalledApp> resultView)
{
using (var key = RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(hive, view).OpenSubKey(registryKey))
{
foreach (string subKeyName in key.GetSubKeyNames())
{
using (RegistryKey subkey = key.OpenSubKey(subKeyName))
{
var displayName = subkey.GetValue("DisplayName");
var displayIcon = subkey.GetValue("DisplayIcon");
if (displayName == null || displayIcon == null)
continue;
var app = new InstalledApp
{
DisplayName = (string)displayName,
DisplayIcon = (string)displayIcon,
InstallLocation = (string)subkey.GetValue("InstallLocation"),
Version = (string)subkey.GetValue("DisplayVersion")
};
if(!resultView.ContainsKey(app.DisplayName))
{
resultView.Add(app.DisplayName,app);
}
}
}
}
}
void Main()
{
var result = new Dictionary<string,InstalledApp>();
var view = Environment.Is64BitOperatingSystem ? RegistryView.Registry64 : RegistryView.Registry32;
AddInstalledAppToResultView(RegistryHive.LocalMachine, view, registryKeys[0],result);
AddInstalledAppToResultView(RegistryHive.CurrentUser, view, registryKeys[0],result);
AddInstalledAppToResultView(RegistryHive.LocalMachine, RegistryView.Registry64, registryKeys[1],result);
Console.WriteLine("==============" + result.Count + "=================");
result.Values.ToList().ForEach(item => Console.WriteLine(item));
}
Iterate through "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall" keys and check their "DisplayName" values.
Use Windows Installer API!
It allows to make reliable enumeration of all programs. Registry is not reliable, but WMI is heavyweight.
The object for the list:
public class InstalledProgram
{
public string DisplayName { get; set; }
public string Version { get; set; }
public string InstalledDate { get; set; }
public string Publisher { get; set; }
public string UnninstallCommand { get; set; }
public string ModifyPath { get; set; }
}
The call for creating the list:
List<InstalledProgram> installedprograms = new List<InstalledProgram>();
string registry_key = #"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall";
using (RegistryKey key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(registry_key))
{
foreach (string subkey_name in key.GetSubKeyNames())
{
using (RegistryKey subkey = key.OpenSubKey(subkey_name))
{
if (subkey.GetValue("DisplayName") != null)
{
installedprograms.Add(new InstalledProgram
{
DisplayName = (string)subkey.GetValue("DisplayName"),
Version = (string)subkey.GetValue("DisplayVersion"),
InstalledDate = (string)subkey.GetValue("InstallDate"),
Publisher = (string)subkey.GetValue("Publisher"),
UnninstallCommand = (string)subkey.GetValue("UninstallString"),
ModifyPath = (string)subkey.GetValue("ModifyPath")
});
}
}
}
}
As others have pointed out, the accepted answer does not return both x86 and x64 installs. Below is my solution for that. It creates a StringBuilder, appends the registry values to it (with formatting), and writes its output to a text file:
const string FORMAT = "{0,-100} {1,-20} {2,-30} {3,-8}\n";
private void LogInstalledSoftware()
{
var line = string.Format(FORMAT, "DisplayName", "Version", "Publisher", "InstallDate");
line += string.Format(FORMAT, "-----------", "-------", "---------", "-----------");
var sb = new StringBuilder(line, 100000);
ReadRegistryUninstall(ref sb, RegistryView.Registry32);
sb.Append($"\n[64 bit section]\n\n{line}");
ReadRegistryUninstall(ref sb, RegistryView.Registry64);
File.WriteAllText(#"c:\temp\log.txt", sb.ToString());
}
private static void ReadRegistryUninstall(ref StringBuilder sb, RegistryView view)
{
const string REGISTRY_KEY = #"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall";
using var baseKey = RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.LocalMachine, view);
using var subKey = baseKey.OpenSubKey(REGISTRY_KEY);
foreach (string subkey_name in subKey.GetSubKeyNames())
{
using RegistryKey key = subKey.OpenSubKey(subkey_name);
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(key.GetValue("DisplayName") as string))
{
var line = string.Format(FORMAT,
key.GetValue("DisplayName"),
key.GetValue("DisplayVersion"),
key.GetValue("Publisher"),
key.GetValue("InstallDate"));
sb.Append(line);
}
key.Close();
}
subKey.Close();
baseKey.Close();
}
Your best bet is to use WMI. Specifically the Win32_Product class.
Might I suggest you take a look at WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation).
If you add the System.Management reference to your C# project, you'll gain access to the class `ManagementObjectSearcher', which you will probably find useful.
There are various WMI Classes for Installed Applications, but if it was installed with Windows Installer, then the Win32_Product class is probably best suited to you.
ManagementObjectSearcher s = new ManagementObjectSearcher("SELECT * FROM Win32_Product");
I used Nicks approach - I needed to check whether the Remote Tools for Visual Studio are installed or not, it seems a bit slow, but in a seperate thread this is fine for me. - here my extended code:
private bool isRdInstalled() {
ManagementObjectSearcher p = new ManagementObjectSearcher("SELECT * FROM Win32_Product");
foreach (ManagementObject program in p.Get()) {
if (program != null && program.GetPropertyValue("Name") != null && program.GetPropertyValue("Name").ToString().Contains("Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 Remote Debugger")) {
return true;
}
if (program != null && program.GetPropertyValue("Name") != null) {
Trace.WriteLine(program.GetPropertyValue("Name"));
}
}
return false;
}
My requirement is to check if specific software is installed in my system. This solution works as expected. It might help you. I used a windows application in c# with visual studio 2015.
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
object line;
string softwareinstallpath = string.Empty;
string registry_key = #"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall";
using (var baseKey = Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.LocalMachine, RegistryView.Registry64))
{
using (var key = baseKey.OpenSubKey(registry_key))
{
foreach (string subkey_name in key.GetSubKeyNames())
{
using (var subKey = key.OpenSubKey(subkey_name))
{
line = subKey.GetValue("DisplayName");
if (line != null && (line.ToString().ToUpper().Contains("SPARK")))
{
softwareinstallpath = subKey.GetValue("InstallLocation").ToString();
listBox1.Items.Add(subKey.GetValue("InstallLocation"));
break;
}
}
}
}
}
if(softwareinstallpath.Equals(string.Empty))
{
MessageBox.Show("The Mirth connect software not installed in this system.")
}
string targetPath = softwareinstallpath + #"\custom-lib\";
string[] files = System.IO.Directory.GetFiles(#"D:\BaseFiles");
// Copy the files and overwrite destination files if they already exist.
foreach (var item in files)
{
string srcfilepath = item;
string fileName = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(item);
System.IO.File.Copy(srcfilepath, targetPath + fileName, true);
}
return;
}