Get installed applications in a system

Question

How to get the applications installed in the system using c# code?

Answer 1

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)
          { }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Answer 2

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;

        }