Develop Reference

Ho to take server offline / bring server online IIS web farm server programmatically

I am developing a C# application to automate process of deploying website to the server.The website is hosted in a web farm in WINDOWS SERVER 2012 R2. So the problem here is I am trying to take server offline or bring it online by means of some programming interface. but I couldn't find anything related inside Microsoft docs. How do I get the job done?
UPDATE:
As suggested by Timur I did as following, but it didn't work.
ServiceController p = new ServiceController("W3SVC","SERVER_IP");
p.Start();
p.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Running);

This is the sample that generated by configuration manager. It take server offline/online by change the Enabled property of server item in web farm collection.
using System;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Web.Administration;
internal static class Sample
{
private static void Main()
{
using (ServerManager serverManager = new ServerManager())
{
Configuration config = serverManager.GetApplicationHostConfiguration();
ConfigurationSection webFarmsSection = config.GetSection("webFarms");
ConfigurationElementCollection webFarmsCollection = webFarmsSection.GetCollection();
ConfigurationElement webFarmElement = FindElement(webFarmsCollection, "webFarm", "name", #"123213");
if (webFarmElement == null) throw new InvalidOperationException("Element not found!");
ConfigurationElementCollection webFarmCollection = webFarmElement.GetCollection();
ConfigurationElement serverElement = FindElement(webFarmCollection, "server", "address", #"11.1.1.1");
if (serverElement == null) throw new InvalidOperationException("Element not found!");
serverElement["enabled"] = false;
serverManager.CommitChanges();
}
}
private static ConfigurationElement FindElement(ConfigurationElementCollection collection, string elementTagName, params string[] keyValues)
{
foreach (ConfigurationElement element in collection)
{
if (String.Equals(element.ElementTagName, elementTagName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
{
bool matches = true;
for (int i = 0; i < keyValues.Length; i += 2)
{
object o = element.GetAttributeValue(keyValues[i]);
string value = null;
if (o != null)
{
value = o.ToString();
}
if (!String.Equals(value, keyValues[i + 1], StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
{
matches = false;
break;
}
}
if (matches)
{
return element;
}
}
}
return null;
}
}

IIS is a Windows service. Therefore the easiest way to start/stop it will be to do something along the lines of this SO answer.
You'll be looking for service name, which likely depends on your version.
UPD see an artist's impression on how your management tool might look like
var hostNames = new List<string> { "appServer1", "webServer1", "webServer2" };
foreach (var host in hostNames)
{
var svc = new ServiceController("W3SVC", host);
svc.Stop();
svc.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped);
Thread.Sleep(10000);// or your custom logic
svc.Start();
svc.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Running);
}
bear in mind, you'll need to run this as a user with sufficient privileges to successfully change service state: as in you need to run this as Admin.
You've got at least two options to do it:
Run your IDE as admin
Update your application manifest as described in this answer
UPD2 apparently you can interface with WFF controller like so

How to access BIOS information from a Windows 8 app?

I know we can get the BIOS information using system.management assembly but the assembly is not accessible for windows 8 app. I specifically need to know the serial number of the laptop on which the app is running. Is there any way that I can access that ?

I don't think there is a way if you are developing a Windows Modern UI App.
Modern UI Apps get run in a sandbox environment which have very limited access to anything. Check MSDN documentations on that.
If you are developing a desktop Windows app on the other hand, then try the following code:
(You need to import System.Management.dll into your project.)
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Management;
namespace GetHardwareIds
{
internal class Program
{
private static void Main(string[] args)
{
using (StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(#"C:\HardwareInfo.txt"))
{
using
(
ManagementObjectSearcher searcher =
// Where __Superclass Is Null: selects only top-level classes.
// remove it if you need a list of all classes
// new ManagementObjectSearcher("Select * From meta_class Where __Superclass Is Null")
// this query only select the processor info. for more options uncomment top line
new ManagementObjectSearcher("Select * From meta_class Where __Class = 'Win32_Processor'")
)
{
foreach (ManagementObject managementObject in searcher.Get())
{
Console.WriteLine(managementObject.Path.ClassName);
writer.WriteLine(managementObject.Path.ClassName);
GetManagementClassProperties(managementObject.Path.ClassName, writer);
managementObject.Dispose();
}
}
}
}
public static void GetManagementClassProperties(string path, StreamWriter writer)
{
using (ManagementClass managementClass = new ManagementClass(path))
{
foreach (ManagementObject instance in managementClass.GetInstances())
{
foreach (PropertyData property in instance.Properties)
{
Console.WriteLine(" {0} = {1}", property.Name, property.Value);
writer.WriteLine(" {0} = {1}", property.Name, property.Value);
}
instance.Dispose();
}
}
}
}
}

Check this code. I am not a 100% clear on what you are trying to achieve but this code should return the device ID specified by Win8 (this code includes a concatenation of all ids.)
// get hardware token
HardwareToken token = HardwareIdentification.GetPackageSpecificToken(null);
// get hardware ID bytes
byte[] idBytes = hwToken.Id.ToArray();
// populate device ID as a string value
string deviceID = string.Join(",", idBytes);
Here is the link to MSDN articles about it:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/jj553431.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/windows.system.profile.hardwareidentification.getpackagespecifictoken.aspxThere is an entry for BIOS in the return structure based on these articles.
Hopefully, this does what you need. Let me know if it worked :)

Unfortunately the information you want to obtain is not available to WinRT applications.

how can I turn off 'allow hybrid sleep' in advanced power setting? by c#

how can I turn off 'allow hybrid sleep' in advanced power setting? by c#
by manually: power options -> change Plan Settings -> change advanced power setting->
Sleep-> 'Allow hybrid sleep' -> plugged in: OFF

If you are targeting Windows 7/2008 Server then you can use WMI and the Win32_PowerSetting class. Below is code that does that. Make sure to add an assembly reference and using directive to System.Management.
private bool SetAllowHybridSleep(bool enabled)
{
//Machine to work on, "." for local
string RemotePC = ".";
//Set the namespace to the power namespace, used throughout the function
ManagementScope ms = new ManagementScope(#"\\" + RemotePC + #"\root\cimv2\power");
//Will hold each of our queries
ObjectQuery oq = null;
//Will hold the values of our power plan and the specific setting that we want to change
Guid PowerPlanInstanceId = Guid.Empty;
string PowerSettingInstanceId = null;
//Look for the specific setting that we want
oq = new ObjectQuery(string.Format("SELECT * FROM Win32_PowerSetting WHERE ElementName = 'Allow hybrid sleep'"));
using (ManagementObjectSearcher mos = new ManagementObjectSearcher(ms, oq))
{
ManagementObjectCollection results = mos.Get();
foreach (ManagementObject obj in results)
{
foreach (PropertyData p in obj.Properties)
{
if (p.Name == "InstanceID")
{
//This will give us a string with a GUID specific to our setting
PowerSettingInstanceId = p.Value.ToString();
break;
}
}
}
}
//Sanity check
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(PowerSettingInstanceId))
{
Console.WriteLine("System does not support hybrid sleep");
return false;
}
//Look for the active power scheme
oq = new ObjectQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_PowerPlan WHERE IsActive=True");
using (ManagementObjectSearcher mos = new ManagementObjectSearcher(ms, oq))
{
ManagementObjectCollection results = mos.Get();
foreach (ManagementObject obj in results)
{
foreach (PropertyData p in obj.Properties)
{
if (p.Name == "InstanceID")
{
//The instance contains a string with a GUID inside of it, use the code below to get the GUID by itself
if (!Guid.TryParse(System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Match(p.Value.ToString(), #"\{[0-9a-f]{8}\-[0-9a-f]{4}\-[0-9a-f]{4}\-[0-9a-f]{4}\-[0-9a-f]{12}\}").Value, out PowerPlanInstanceId))
{
Console.WriteLine("Could not find active power plan");
return false;
}
break;
}
}
}
}
//Now we need to update the actual power setting in the active plan
//Get all power schemes for the target setting
oq = new ObjectQuery(string.Format("ASSOCIATORS OF {{Win32_PowerSetting.InstanceID=\"{0}\"}} WHERE ResultClass = Win32_PowerSettingDataIndex", PowerSettingInstanceId.Replace(#"\", #"\\")));
using (ManagementObjectSearcher mos = new ManagementObjectSearcher(ms, oq))
{
ManagementObjectCollection results = mos.Get();
foreach (ManagementObject obj in results)
{
foreach (PropertyData p in obj.Properties)
{
//See if the current scheme is the current setting. This will happen twice, once for AC and once for DC
if (p.Name == "InstanceID" && p.Value.ToString().Contains(PowerPlanInstanceId.ToString()))
{
//Change the value of the current setting
obj.SetPropertyValue("SettingIndexValue", (enabled ? "1" : "0"));
obj.Put();
break;
}
}
}
}
return true;
}

Using procmon, I managed to work out that the following registry key is responsible for it on my machine.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\238C9FA8-0AAD-41ED-83F4-97BE242C8F20\94ac6d29-73ce-41a6-809f-6363ba21b47e
You'll probably have to do some research on your machine to see how it works for you.
You can also call on the powercfg utility to do this. Each power setting is identified by three things:
GUID of power profile
GUID of profile subgroup
GUID of setting
You can use powercfg -QUERY to produce a full list of values.
Once you've got the GUID of the profile you want to edit, the GUID of the subgroup (in this case the Sleep subgroup) and the GUID of the setting (Allow Hybrid Sleep) you can use either powercfg -SETACVALUEINDEX for plugged in or powercfg -SETDCVALUEINDEX for on battery to set the value.
In my case (Win7 Ultimate x64) you can turn it off using:
powercfg -SETACVALUEINDEX 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e 238c9fa8-0aad-41ed-83f4-97be242c8f20 94ac6d29-73ce-41a6-809f-6363ba21b47e 1
This translates to the AcSettingIndex value in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\238C9FA8-0AAD-41ED-83F4-97BE242C8F20\94AC6D29-73CE-41A6-809F-6363BA21B47E\DefaultPowerSchemeValues\381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e

Get installed applications in a system

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;
}

How to get the "friendly" OS Version Name?

I am looking for an elegant way to get the OS version like: "Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1" or "Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition" etc.
Is there an elegant way of doing that?
I am also interested in the processor architecture (like x86 or x64).

You can use WMI to get the product name ("Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008 Enterprise "):
using System.Management;
var name = (from x in new ManagementObjectSearcher("SELECT Caption FROM Win32_OperatingSystem").Get().Cast<ManagementObject>()
select x.GetPropertyValue("Caption")).FirstOrDefault();
return name != null ? name.ToString() : "Unknown";

You should really try to avoid WMI for local use. It is very convenient but you pay dearly for it in terms of performance. This is quick and simple:
public string HKLM_GetString(string path, string key)
{
try
{
RegistryKey rk = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(path);
if (rk == null) return "";
return (string)rk.GetValue(key);
}
catch { return ""; }
}
public string FriendlyName()
{
string ProductName = HKLM_GetString(#"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion", "ProductName");
string CSDVersion = HKLM_GetString(#"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion", "CSDVersion");
if (ProductName != "")
{
return (ProductName.StartsWith("Microsoft") ? "" : "Microsoft ") + ProductName +
(CSDVersion != "" ? " " + CSDVersion : "");
}
return "";
}

Why not use Environment.OSVersion? It will also tell you what operating this is - Windows, Mac OS X, Unix, etc. To find out if you are running in 64bit or 32bit, use IntPtr.Size - this will return 4 bytes for 32bit and 8 bytes for 64bit.

Try:
new ComputerInfo().OSVersion;
Output:
Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise
Note:
Add reference to Microsoft.VisualBasic.Devices;

For me below line works which gives me output like:
Microsoft Windows 10.0.18362
System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeInformation.OSDescription
It can be used to get information like architecture as well
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.runtime.interopservices.runtimeinformation?view=netframework-4.8
Properties
FrameworkDescription: Returns a string that indicates the name of the .NET installation on which an app is running.
OSArchitecture: Gets the platform architecture on which the current app is running.
OSDescription: Gets a string that describes the operating system on which the app is running.
ProcessArchitecture: Gets the process architecture of the currently running app.

Little late, but this is how I did it. Might help someone in the future.
using Microsoft.Win32;
RegistryKey registryKey = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("Software\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion");
string pathName = (string)registryKey.GetValue("productName");

Sample output:
Name = Windows Vista
Edition = Home Premium
Service Pack = Service Pack 1
Version = 6.0.6001.65536
Bits = 64
Sample class:
class Program
{
static void Main( string[] args )
{
Console.WriteLine( "Operation System Information" );
Console.WriteLine( "----------------------------" );
Console.WriteLine( "Name = {0}", OSInfo.Name );
Console.WriteLine( "Edition = {0}", OSInfo.Edition );
Console.WriteLine( "Service Pack = {0}", OSInfo.ServicePack );
Console.WriteLine( "Version = {0}", OSInfo.VersionString );
Console.WriteLine( "Bits = {0}", OSInfo.Bits );
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
Source code for OSInfo class: http://www.csharp411.com/determine-windows-version-and-edition-with-c/ However there is an error in the code, you will need to replace the "case 6" statement (it's just before #endregion NAME) with this:
case 6:
switch (minorVersion)
{
case 0:
switch (productType)
{
case 1:
name = "Windows Vista";
break;
case 3:
name = "Windows Server 2008";
break;
}
break;
case 1:
switch (productType)
{
case 1:
name = "Windows 7";
break;
case 3:
name = "Windows Server 2008 R2";
break;
}
break;
}
break;
And if you want to go a step further and see if your program is running in 64 or 32 bit:
public static class Wow
{
public static bool Is64BitProcess
{
get { return IntPtr.Size == 8; }
}
public static bool Is64BitOperatingSystem
{
get
{
// Clearly if this is a 64-bit process we must be on a 64-bit OS.
if (Is64BitProcess)
return true;
// Ok, so we are a 32-bit process, but is the OS 64-bit?
// If we are running under Wow64 than the OS is 64-bit.
bool isWow64;
return ModuleContainsFunction("kernel32.dll", "IsWow64Process") && IsWow64Process(GetCurrentProcess(), out isWow64) && isWow64;
}
}
static bool ModuleContainsFunction(string moduleName, string methodName)
{
IntPtr hModule = GetModuleHandle(moduleName);
if (hModule != IntPtr.Zero)
return GetProcAddress(hModule, methodName) != IntPtr.Zero;
return false;
}
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
extern static bool IsWow64Process(IntPtr hProcess, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)] out bool isWow64);
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = true)]
extern static IntPtr GetCurrentProcess();
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
extern static IntPtr GetModuleHandle(string moduleName);
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Ansi, SetLastError = true)]
extern static IntPtr GetProcAddress(IntPtr hModule, string methodName);
}

One thing to be careful of is this information is usually localized and will report differently depending on the language of the OS.
You can get a lot of info from WMI look for the Win32_OperatingSystem class

Note that the processor architecture question is complex:
do you mean (higher numers require lower numbers to be true):
The CPU is capable for handling 64bit (in the sense that it supports AMD/intel x64 or Itanium)
The Operating system is 64bit
GPR and pointers are 64bits, i.e. XP 64, Vista 64, a 64 bit server release or a 64bit OS for mono
The currently executing process is a 64 bit process (not executing under Wow64 for example)
if you are happy that all 3 must be true then
IntPtr.Size == 8
Indicates that all three are true

You can use Visual Basic Devices to get version information.
Code:
using Microsoft.VisualBasic.Devices;
var versionID = new ComputerInfo().OSVersion;//6.1.7601.65536
var versionName = new ComputerInfo().OSFullName;//Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate
var verionPlatform = new ComputerInfo().OSPlatform;//WinNT
Console.WriteLine(versionID);
Console.WriteLine(versionName);
Console.WriteLine(verionPlatform);
Output:
6.1.7601.65536
Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise
WinNT
Note:
You will need to add a reference to Microsoft.VisualBasic;

I know it is no direct answer to the question and it's also a little bit late, but for those who are only looking for a way to determine whether the OS is a Client OS or a server there is a way to use the following: (you need to include the System.Management reference)
using System;
using System.Management;
ManagementClass osClass = new ManagementClass("Win32_OperatingSystem");
foreach (ManagementObject queryObj in osClass.GetInstances())
{
foreach (PropertyData prop in queryObj.Properties)
{
if (prop.Name == "ProductType")
{
ProdType = int.Parse(prop.Value.ToString());
}
}
}
while the variable ProdType is an integer that was initialized before. It will contain a value between 1 and 3 while 1 stands for Workstation, 2 for Domain Controller and 3 for a server.
This was taken from Accessing the properties of Win32_OperatingSystem and changed a little bit...

Disclosure: After posting this, I realized that I am depending on a Nuget extension method library called Z.ExntensionMethods which contains IndexOf()
using Microsoft.VisualBasic.Devices;
string SimpleOSName()
{
var name = new ComputerInfo().OSFullName;
var parts = name.Split(' ').ToArray();
var take = name.Contains("Server")?3:2;
return string.Join(" ", parts.Skip(parts.IndexOf("Windows")).Take(take));
}
Faster performance using System.Management;
string SimpleOSName()
{
var name = new ManagementObjectSearcher("SELECT Caption FROM Win32_OperatingSystem")
.Get().Cast<ManagementObject>()
.Select(x => x.GetPropertyValue("Caption").ToString())
.First();
var parts = name.Split(' ').ToArray();
var take = name.Contains("Server")?3:2;
return string.Join(" ", parts.Skip(parts.IndexOf("Windows")).Take(take));
}
output example:
Windows 7
Windows Server 2008