I'm using:
FileInfo(
System.Environment.GetFolderPath(
System.Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFiles)
+ @"\MyInstalledApp"
In order to determine if a program is detected on a users machine (it's not ideal, but the program I'm looking for is a right old kludge of a MS-DOS application, and I couldn't think of another method).
On Windows XP and 32-bit versions of Windows Vista this works fine. However, on x64 Windows Vista the code returns the x64 Program Files folder, whereas the application is installed in Program Files x86. Is there a way to programatically return the path to Program Files x86 without hard wiring "C:\Program Files (x86)"?
The function below will return the x86 Program Files directory in all of these three Windows configurations:
static string ProgramFilesx86()
{
if( 8 == IntPtr.Size
|| (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PROCESSOR_ARCHITEW6432"))))
{
return Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ProgramFiles(x86)");
}
return Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ProgramFiles");
}
One way would be to look for the "ProgramFiles(x86)" environment variable:
String x86folder = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ProgramFiles(x86)");
One-liner using the new method in .NET. Will always return x86 Program Files folder.
Environment.Is64BitOperatingSystem ? Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ProgramFiles(x86)") : Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ProgramFiles"))
C# Code:
Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFilesX86)
Output:
C:\Program Files (x86)
Note:
We need to tell the compiler to not prefer a particular build platform.
Go to Visual Studio > Project Properties > Build > Uncheck "Prefer 32 bit"
Reason:
By default for most .NET Projects is "Any CPU 32-bit preferred"
When you uncheck 32 bit assembly will:
JIT to 32-bit code on 32 bit process
JIT to 32-bit code on 64 bit process
Note, however, that the ProgramFiles(x86) environment variable is only available if your application is running 64-bit.
If your application is running 32-bit, you can just use the ProgramFiles environment variable whose value will actually be "Program Files (x86)".
If you're using .NET 4, there is a special folder enumeration ProgramFilesX86:
Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFilesX86)
Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PROGRAMFILES(X86)") ?? Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFiles)
Note, however, that the ProgramFiles(x86) environment variable is only available if your application is running 64-bit.
If your application is running 32-bit, you can just use the ProgramFiles environment variable whose value will actually be "Program Files (x86)".
If you're using .NET 4, there is a special folder enumeration ProgramFilesX86:
Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFilesX86)
One way would be to look for the "ProgramFiles(x86)" environment variable:
String x86folder = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ProgramFiles(x86)");
Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PROGRAMFILES(X86)") ?? Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFiles)
One way would be to look for the "ProgramFiles(x86)" environment variable:
String x86folder = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ProgramFiles(x86)");
I am writing an application which can run on both x86 and x64 platform for Windows 7 and querying the below variable just pulls the right program files folder path on any platform.
Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PROGRAMFILES")
C# Code:
Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFilesX86)
Output:
C:\Program Files (x86)
Note:
We need to tell the compiler to not prefer a particular build platform.
Go to Visual Studio > Project Properties > Build > Uncheck "Prefer 32 bit"
Reason:
By default for most .NET Projects is "Any CPU 32-bit preferred"
When you uncheck 32 bit assembly will:
JIT to 32-bit code on 32 bit process
JIT to 32-bit code on 64 bit process
One-liner using the new method in .NET. Will always return x86 Program Files folder.
Environment.Is64BitOperatingSystem ? Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ProgramFiles(x86)") : Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ProgramFiles"))
Note, however, that the ProgramFiles(x86) environment variable is only available if your application is running 64-bit.
If your application is running 32-bit, you can just use the ProgramFiles environment variable whose value will actually be "Program Files (x86)".
One way would be to look for the "ProgramFiles(x86)" environment variable:
String x86folder = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ProgramFiles(x86)");
I am writing an application which can run on both x86 and x64 platform for Windows 7 and querying the below variable just pulls the right program files folder path on any platform.
Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PROGRAMFILES")
Source: Stackoverflow.com