How can I check if a program is installed on client computer?

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5.00/5 (2 votes)

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Hi,

I have designed a website which relies on a windows application (which has been designed by vb.net) to perform some tasks. I want to know if it is possible to check the client's computer through a link or button on my web page to see if this application is installed or not.

I know that this pertains to javascript and probably an activex component. However, I have no clue as to where to start and what to do.

Any help in this regard is highly appreciated.

Thanks,

Posted 25-May-12 22:37pm

rezann

Updated 28-Apr-20 19:53pm

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Comments

Rahul Rajat Singh 29-May-12 0:17am

My first question would be "Do you wan the client computers to have this application installed before using your website?" If the answer to the question is yes then i seriously doubt that the answers posted so far can be of any use because all the solutions are totally correct but actually not considering the fact that you need to do this from the browser.

Please elaborate so that I could suggest something.

3 solutions

Solution 2

Hi Rezann,

I am not a pro, just a newbie. I just wrote some code doing what you want to do. This may not be the best way to go, but it's very easy. All you have to do is to check if a file/folder exist in a directory that you know it should when the software is installed

VB

If System.IO.File.Exists("C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\vsdiag_regwcf.exe") = True then
     Msgbox "bingo"
end if

P.S. Win7 install path is not the same as WinXP. So you can test both.

Posted 28-May-12 16:40pm

juno101

Solution 3

You can try use of environment variables

Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFilesX86) 'for 32bit

Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFiles) 'for 64bit 

after that you dig deeper into the filetree with concatenated slashes as neccessary
cheers

Posted 14-Sep-14 1:14am

gondwe

Comments

[no name] 14-Sep-14 10:02am

You should probably read the questions before you blindly answer. These are not "environment variables" these are .NET constants. This code also has nothing at all to do with the question asked, over 2 years ago. The question was to find out on the client side if a program was installed, .NET code would only be able to check the server side.

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Volynsky Alex · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-25T22:47:00

Solution 1

Hi rezann,
maybe following references will help you:
http://mdb-blog.blogspot.com/2010/09/c-check-if-programapplication-is.html[^]
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/908850/get-installed-applications-in-a-system[^]
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/211192/check-if-the-application-is-already-installed[^]
Regards,
Alex.

Posted 25-May-12 22:47pm

Volynsky Alex

Comments

Volynsky Alex 26-May-12 4:56am

P.S. it also may will be help:
http://forums.asp.net/t/1763075.aspx/1
http://www.thereforesystems.com/get-a-list-of-installed-applications-using-linq-and-c/
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/netfxbcl/thread/072c3af8-90bf-4c3f-a3d1-0e635a0b8cd2