Check for installed components

Question

In my project I have a built-in browser so that the user can access a particular site he needs. The browser works, only it has as requirements the C++ 2012 library and Flash.

Is there any way to find out if these components are installed on the operating system without installing other components?

Answer 1

Using this answer as a basis:

// Dicionario que contem os prerequisitos necessarios. Por cada prerequisito,
// contem uma flag que indica se foi encontrado. No fim da pesquisa, se foram todos
// encontrados, retorna verdadeiro. Caso contrario retorna falso.
Dictionary<string, bool> preRequisitosEncontrados = new Dictionary<string, bool>
    {
        { "Adobe Flash Player", false },
        // ... outros componentes que necessite.
    };

List<string> preRequisitos = preRequisitosEncontrados.Keys.ToList();
const string caminhoRegistro = @"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall";
using (RegistryKey chave = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(caminhoRegistro))
{
    if (chave != null)
    {
        foreach (string subChaves in chave.GetSubKeyNames())
        {
            using (RegistryKey subChave = chave.OpenSubKey(subChaves))
            {
                if (subChave == null)
                    continue;

                var name = subChave.GetValue("DisplayName") as string;
                if(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(name))
                    continue;

                var index = preRequisitos.FindIndex(s => name.Contains(s));
                if (index == -1)
                    continue;

                // Se encontrou um prerequisito, remove-o da lista e marco-o como encontrado.
                preRequisitosEncontrados[preRequisitos[index]] = true;
                preRequisitos.RemoveAt(index);

            }
        }
    }
}

bool todosEncontrados = preRequisitosEncontrados.All(p => p.Value);

This code searches the installed programs for the defined prerequisites. If you find them all, todosEncontrados and true. Should any, todosEncontrados and false.

You can run this code every time you start your application, and if you fail, for example, show the user a message with the missing components. Or you can run only the first time the application is started and save the search result to us Settings:

if (!Settings.Default.PrerequisitosCumpridos)
{
    var cumpridos = AnalisarPrerequitos();
    if (cumpridos)
    {
        Settings.Default.PrerequisitosCumpridos = true;
        Settings.Default.Save();
    }
    else
    {
        // informa o utilizador
    }
}

Answer 2

Just an alternative to @Omni’s excellent response.

You have some ways to do this. One would be to list the installed programs and check whether or not the desired program exists. This way you search for the name, but makes it less performative, since you will have to check if you have the program in a list of programs. An example would be like this:

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))
                    {
                        if (Convert.ToString(subkey.GetValue("DisplayName")).Contains("Adobe Flash"))
                        {
                            Console.WriteLine("Possui Flash");
                        }
                        else
                        {
                            Console.WriteLine("NÃO Possui Flash");
                        }
                    }
                }
            }

Another alternative, as shown by Omni no chat, you can check by Registration key.

 RegistryKey RK = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey("Software\\Macromedia\\FlashPlayera");
            if (RK != null)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Flash Instalado");
            }