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;
}
Related
How can one get the corresponding process name of the installed programs in Windows (10)? For now, I'm using this
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))
{
//returns installed programs
}
}
}
to return the installed software. Despite not every installed program being shown, how can I get the name of the process, like it would be shown in Task Manager, that the program would start if it was started?
I want to make an application blacklist. If an application gets started it compares its process with the blacklist. If the process matches with an entry in the list, the process gets killed.
Use static method GetProcesses of Process class to create component for each running process on the local computer.
You can get their names like this:
var processNames = Process.GetProcesses().Select(x => x.ProcessName).ToList();
More about Process class here:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.diagnostics.process?view=net-6.0
You should consider to use the Windows integrated feature to block applications via the registry. You can create such entries programmatically.
However, you can implement your own, but you must know that you can't prevent applications from starting using your approach. You can only kill it after it was started and after it has allocated resources.
Create your blacklist first: collect all installed application paths and let the user pick the application to blacklist (see CreateInstalledApplicationIndex method).
Use WMI to observe any process starts by registering a corresponding event handler.
In the event handler retrieve the started Process and compare its filename to your blacklisted filenames to identify and handle a forbidden process.
private List<FileInfo> InstallationInfos { get; } = new List<FileInfo>();
private List<FileInfo> BlacklistedExecutables { get; } = new List<FileInfo>();
public void ApplyBlacklist()
{
CreateInstalledApplicationIndex();
WatchProcessStarts();
}
private void CreateInstalledApplicationIndex()
{
string uninstallKey = #"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall";
using RegistryKey registryKey = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(uninstallKey);
foreach (string subKeyName in registryKey.GetSubKeyNames())
{
using RegistryKey subKey = registryKey.OpenSubKey(subKeyName);
var installationPath = subKey.GetValue("InstallLocation") as string;
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(installationPath))
{
continue;
}
IEnumerable<FileInfo> fileInfos = Enumerable.Empty<FileInfo>();
try
{
var installationDirectoryInfo = new DirectoryInfo(installationPath);
fileInfos = installationDirectoryInfo.EnumerateFiles("*.exe", new EnumerationOptions());
}
catch (IOException)
{
continue;
}
foreach (FileInfo fileInfo in fileInfos)
{
this.InstallationInfos.Add(fileInfo);
// For demo, all executables are blacklisted.
// TODO::Let user fill Blacklisted collection.
this.BlacklistedExecutables.Add(fileInfo);
}
}
}
private void WatchProcessStarts()
{
WqlEventQuery query = new WqlEventQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_ProcessStartTrace");
ManagementEventWatcher watcher = new ManagementEventWatcher(query);
watcher.EventArrived += OnProcessStarted;
// Start listening for process start events
watcher.Start();
// Stop listening for process start events
//watcher.Stop();
}
private void OnProcessStarted(object sender, EventArrivedEventArgs e)
{
uint startedProcessId = (uint)e.NewEvent["ProcessID"];
// Note: Convert.ToInt32 will throw an OverflowException
// in case uint does not fit into an int.
// You must decide whether to handle this particular exception or to let it crash your application.
// Since it is very very unlikely that a machine runs Int32.MaxValue processes,
// I recommend not to handle this exception.
Process startedProcess = Process.GetProcessById(Convert.ToInt32(startedProcessId));
bool isProcessBlacklisted = this.BlacklistedExecutables
.Select(fileInfo => fileInfo.FullName)
.Contains(startedProcess.MainModule.FileName);
// TODO::Handle blacklisted process e.g., by killing it
if (isProcessBlacklisted)
{
startedProcess.Kill(entireProcessTree: true);
}
}
It is possible that you have to run your application as administrator in order to observe process starts and to kill them. In this case ensure to prompt the user to elevate your application's rights by restarting it with administrator permissions.
I got a solution which looks like this:
First I get all installed programs based on this
public static void LoadInstalledPrograms()
{
var FOLDERID_AppsFolder = new Guid("{1e87508d-89c2-42f0-8a7e-645a0f50ca58}");
ShellObject appsFolder = (ShellObject)KnownFolderHelper.FromKnownFolderId(FOLDERID_AppsFolder);
foreach (var app in (IKnownFolder)appsFolder)
{
//regular installed programs
if (app.Properties.System.Link.TargetParsingPath.Value != null)
{
AddToInstalledProgramsList(app.Name, app.Properties.System.Link.TargetParsingPath.Value, "reg");
}
//Windows apps/Microsoft store apps
/*else
{
AddToInstalledProgramsList(app.Name, app.Properties.GetProperty("System.AppUserModel.PackageInstallPath").ValueAsObject.ToString(), "win");
}*/
}
}
and then write them to a dictionary which is observed by a BackgroundWorker who kills every process from the list
static Dictionary<String, String> programs = new Dictionary<String, String>();
public static void AddToInstalledProgramsList(string programName, string programPath, string programType)
{
string processName = "";
if (programType == "reg")
{
programPath = programPath.Replace("/", "\\");
processName = programPath.Split("\\").Last();
if (!programs.ContainsKey(programName))
{
programs.Add(programName, processName);
}
else
{
AddDuplicateEntry(programName, processName, 1);
}
}
else if (programType == "win")
{
//...
}
Debug.WriteLine(programName + ": " + processName);
}
If I stumble across problems with this approach I will update this thread.
I would like to know is there are any possibility to get a list of installed browsers on the computer using c#?
I'm using Selenium WebDriver in my task and I need to know which browsers are installed because in Selenium I can only run a specific browser, for example for Firefox it will be:
IWebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver();
I will appreciate any help.
Look at localmachine registry...
Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey key =
Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(#"SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet");
var browsers = key.GetSubKeyNames();
You also need to take into account the machine architecture (x64 vs x86) and the fact that Microsoft Edge will not be under the specified key. Here is what I ended up using (based on multiple solutions found online):
private List<Browser> GetBrowsers()
{
RegistryKey browserKeys;
browserKeys = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(#"SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Clients\StartMenuInternet");
if (browserKeys == null)
browserKeys = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(#"SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet");
string[] browserNames = browserKeys.GetSubKeyNames();
List<Browser> browsers = new List<Browser>();
for (int i = 0; i < browserNames.Length; i++)
{
Browser browser = new Browser();
RegistryKey browserKey = browserKeys.OpenSubKey(browserNames[i]);
browser.Name = (string)browserKey.GetValue(null);
RegistryKey browserKeyPath = browserKey.OpenSubKey(#"shell\open\command");
browser.Path = browserKeyPath.GetValue(null).ToString().StripQuotes();
browsers.Add(browser);
if (browser.Path != null)
browser.Version = FileVersionInfo.GetVersionInfo(browser.Path).FileVersion;
else
browser.Version = "unknown";
}
Browser edgeBrowser = GetEdgeVersion();
if (edgeBrowser != null)
{
browsers.Add(edgeBrowser);
}
return browsers;
}
private Browser GetEdgeVersion()
{
RegistryKey edgeKey =
Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(
#"SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\SystemAppData\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Schemas");
if (edgeKey != null)
{
string version = edgeKey.GetValue("PackageFullName").ToString().StripQuotes();
Match result = Regex.Match(version, "(((([0-9.])\\d)+){1})");
if (result.Success)
{
return new Browser
{
Name = "MicrosoftEdge",
Version = result.Value
};
}
}
return null;
}
And the object returned is a simple DTO:
public class Browser{
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Path { get; set; }
public string Version { get; set; }
}
I've written a NuGet package for this:
https://www.nuget.org/packages/MintPlayer.PlatformBrowser/ targetting .net core.
You can get a list of all installed webbrowsers (including Edge) and the default webbrowser. I've also written a package with a dialog to let you pick a browser: https://www.nuget.org/packages/MintPlayer.BrowserDialog/
As far as I know there is no list of browsers in Windows.
However you could check for browser's existence by simply testing the *.exe file's existence:
if (File.Exists(#"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe") ||
File.Exists(#"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe")) {
// chrome is installed
}
if (File.Exists(#"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe") ||
File.Exists(#"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe") {
// firefox is installed
}
I read a lot of information of getting programs. None of algorithms did do what I want. I need to get installed programs exactly like in control panel.
So I used:
WMI Win32_Product class. It shows only msi installed programs.
Registry keys. HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. Again, some programs are not displayed in control panel, some programs displayed in control panel not in this registry node.
So, is there anyone in this world, who knew which algorithm use control panel to display installed programs?
UPD1:yes, i use 64 bit, i know there is another node for 64bit installed programs "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall" but the following code enumerates twise HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall section, strange...
var programs = new List();
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))
{
var name = (string)subkey.GetValue("DisplayName");
if(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(name))
{
programs.Add(name);
}
}
}
}
registry_key = #"SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\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))
{
var name = (string)subkey.GetValue("DisplayName");
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(name))
{
programs.Add(name);
}
}
}
}
foreach (var program in programs.OrderBy(x => x))
{
Console.WriteLine(program);
}
Ok gyus, i wrote class that can get installed programs from registry without hotfixes and updates. It is still not exactly like in control panel but almost. I hope this helps anyone else.
public static class InstalledPrograms
{
const string registry_key = #"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall";
public static List<string> GetInstalledPrograms()
{
var result = new List<string>();
result.AddRange(GetInstalledProgramsFromRegistry(RegistryView.Registry32));
result.AddRange(GetInstalledProgramsFromRegistry(RegistryView.Registry64));
return result;
}
private static IEnumerable<string> GetInstalledProgramsFromRegistry(RegistryView registryView)
{
var result = new List<string>();
using (RegistryKey key = RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.LocalMachine, registryView).OpenSubKey(registry_key))
{
foreach (string subkey_name in key.GetSubKeyNames())
{
using (RegistryKey subkey = key.OpenSubKey(subkey_name))
{
if(IsProgramVisible(subkey))
{
result.Add((string)subkey.GetValue("DisplayName"));
}
}
}
}
return result;
}
private static bool IsProgramVisible(RegistryKey subkey)
{
var name = (string)subkey.GetValue("DisplayName");
var releaseType = (string)subkey.GetValue("ReleaseType");
//var unistallString = (string)subkey.GetValue("UninstallString");
var systemComponent = subkey.GetValue("SystemComponent");
var parentName = (string)subkey.GetValue("ParentDisplayName");
return
!string.IsNullOrEmpty(name)
&& string.IsNullOrEmpty(releaseType)
&& string.IsNullOrEmpty(parentName)
&& (systemComponent == null);
}
}
MelnikovI's answer is sufficient for most purposes -- I had 144 items in my list vs 143 in Programs and Features. For review, his solution is to hit these registry locations:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
To qualify, each subkey MUST have:
The DisplayName REG_SZ value
And MUST NOT have:
The SystemComponent REG_DWORD (non-zero)
The ParentKeyName or ParentDisplayName REG_SZ values
The ReleaseType REG_SZ value
The one addtional enhancement I have found is for Windows Installer entries, defined as:
The key name is a standard GUID string
The WindowsInstaller REG_DWORD is present (and non-zero)
For such entries, you can take the additional step of using the Win32 function MsiGetProductInfoW from msi.dll, and asking for the "VersionString" property for the GUID represented by the key.
If this function returns 1605: ERROR_UNKNOWN_PRODUCT, it means that the entry is not installed according to Windows Installer, and should be excluded from display.
After implementing this minor tweak, my list is now identical to Programs and Features.
I took the code that MelnikovI wrote (which was super helpful) and added a couple things. First, it search four places in the registry:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
It also checks to see if there are any subkeys - if not it skips that one.
Lastly, it does a regex to only allow a certain set of characters [^a-zA-Z0-9 .()+-].
I'm only starting at C#, so I didn't know a way to loop through all four reg locations, so I have two loops (one for HKLM and one for HKCU).
public static class InstalledPrograms
{
public static List<string> GetInstalledPrograms()
{
var result = new List<string>();
result.AddRange(GetInstalledProgramsFromRegistry(RegistryView.Registry32));
result.AddRange(GetInstalledProgramsFromRegistry(RegistryView.Registry64));
result.Sort();
return result;
}
private static string cleanText(string dirtyText)
{
Regex rgx = new Regex("[^a-zA-Z0-9 .()+-]");
string result = rgx.Replace(dirtyText, "");
return result;
}
private static IEnumerable<string> GetInstalledProgramsFromRegistry(RegistryView registryView)
{
var result = new List<string>();
List<string> uninstall = new List<string>();
uninstall.Add(#"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall");
uninstall.Add(#"SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall");
foreach (string registry_key in uninstall)
{
using (RegistryKey key = RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.LocalMachine, registryView).OpenSubKey(registry_key))
{
foreach (string subkey_name in key.GetSubKeyNames())
{
using (RegistryKey subkey = key.OpenSubKey(subkey_name))
{
if (IsProgramVisible(subkey))
{
result.Add(cleanText(subkey.GetValue("DisplayName").ToString()).ToString());
}
}
}
}
using (RegistryKey key = RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.CurrentUser, registryView).OpenSubKey(registry_key))
{
if (key != null)
{
foreach (string subkey_name in key.GetSubKeyNames())
{
using (RegistryKey subkey = key.OpenSubKey(subkey_name))
{
if (IsProgramVisible(subkey))
{
result.Add(cleanText(subkey.GetValue("DisplayName").ToString()).ToString());
}
}
}
}
}
}
return result;
}
If anyone is interested, I compared the results to the PowerShell I've been using and they are the same.
##Get list of Add/Remove programs
if (!([Diagnostics.Process]::GetCurrentProcess().Path -match '\\syswow64\\'))
{
$uninstallPath = "\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\"
$uninstallWow6432Path = "\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\"
#(
if (Test-Path "HKLM:$uninstallWow6432Path" ) { Get-ChildItem "HKLM:$uninstallWow6432Path"}
if (Test-Path "HKLM:$uninstallPath" ) { Get-ChildItem "HKLM:$uninstallPath" }
if (Test-Path "HKCU:$uninstallWow6432Path") { Get-ChildItem "HKCU:$uninstallWow6432Path"}
if (Test-Path "HKCU:$uninstallPath" ) { Get-ChildItem "HKCU:$uninstallPath" }
) |
ForEach-Object { Get-ItemProperty $_.PSPath } |
Where-Object {
$_.DisplayName -and !$_.SystemComponent -and !$_.ReleaseType -and !$_.ParentKeyName -and ($_.UninstallString -or $_.NoRemove)
} |
Sort-Object DisplayName |
Select-Object DisplayName
}
else
{
"You are running 32-bit Powershell on 64-bit system. Please run 64-bit Powershell instead." | Write-Host -ForegroundColor Red
}
The SystemComponent registry key discussed in several other answers here is usually a REG_DWORD with possible values of 0 or 1. However, I have seen a couple of instances (such as Microsoft Visio 2010 and Microsoft Project 2010) where SystemComponent is a REG_SZ with no data. Any solution that casts SystemComponent to an int is therefore liable to throw an exception in these situations.
This should be simple, but isn't apparently. Since..Windows 3 or so, there is a control panel called Phone or Phone & Modem. In that control panel is a bunch of information about how a modem would dial up, assuming you have a modem hooked up. For example, do you need to dial 9 to get out, what is the area code, and so forth. How can i access this information programmatically? I am using C# .NET 2010.
You are going to need to use Tapi in Windows or pull the information from the registry. According to Microsoft Tapi 3.0 was not designed to be used from managed code, though the first link seems to have done it.
Some articles to look at:
Tapi3.0 Application Development
VB.Net accessing TAPI Dialing Rules
From Link #2
Take a look at these TAPI functions:
lineGetTranslateCaps
lineTranslateAddress
lineTranslateDialog
lineSetCurrentLocation
lineGetCountry
tapiGetLocationInfo
The info is stored in the Registry at: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Telephony\Locations
I couldn't find a way to access it through a .Net TAPI wrapper (after a not so long search) so I fired up procmon an found where it was stored in the registry, and here's the code that accesses it (you can adapt it to your specific needs):
RegistryKey locationsKey =
Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(#"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Telephony\Locations");
if (locationsKey == null) return;
string[] locations = locationsKey.GetSubKeyNames();
foreach (var location in locations)
{
RegistryKey key = locationsKey.OpenSubKey(location);
if (key == null) continue;
Console.WriteLine("AreaCode {0}",key.GetValue("AreaCode"));
Console.WriteLine("Country {0}",(int) key.GetValue("Country"));
Console.WriteLine("OutsideAccess {0}", key.GetValue("OutsideAccess"));
}
Note :
I recommend to use an official API if there is a .net compatible one.
This code is not guaranteed to work on other OSes than Win 7
If you need to prompt the user to fill in these details you can start the configuration tool using :
Process.Start(#"C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe",#"C:\Windows\System32\shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL C:\Windows\System32\telephon.cpl");
Bit more code to get the prefix
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string rootLocation = #"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Telephony\Locations";
getRegistryValues(rootLocation);
Console.ReadLine();
}
public static void getRegistryValues(string rootLocation)
{
RegistryKey locationsKey =
Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(rootLocation);
if (locationsKey == null) return;
string[] locations = locationsKey.GetSubKeyNames();
Console.WriteLine(locations.Length.ToString());
foreach (var location in locations)
{
Console.WriteLine(location.ToString());
RegistryKey key = locationsKey.OpenSubKey(location);
if (key == null) continue;
foreach (string keyName in key.GetValueNames())
{
if (keyName.Equals("Prefixes"))
{
string[] Prefixes = ((string[])(key.GetValue(keyName)));
Console.Write("Prefixes ");
foreach (string prefix in Prefixes)
{
Console.Write(prefix);
}
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine(keyName + " {0}", key.GetValue(keyName));
}
}
getRegistryValues(rootLocation+#"\"+location);
}
}
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;
}