windows - Detecting installed programs via registry

Question

I need to develop a process that will detect if the users computer has certain programs installed and if so, what version. I believe I will need a list with the registry location and keys to look for and feed it to the program which is not a problem. Is there a better way to accomplish this?

My first thought was to check in the registry in the uninstallation entries but it seems one of the apps I wish to detect does not have one. What is the standard location for all registry using applications to make an entry in?

Answer 1

On 64-bit systems the x64 key is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall

Most programs are listed there. Look at the keys: DisplayName DisplayVersion

Note that the last is not always set!

On 64-bit systems the x86 key (usually with more entries) is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall