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I'm programming in C#/.NET. I want to be able to return the Program Files directory from the target machine no matter what the architecture of the target machine is. To clarify, I want it to return C (or whatever drive the OS is on):/Program Files no matter what bitness their version of Windows is.
I could just hardcode in the directory except if the user was running Windows that's not installed on the C: drive it wouldn't work.
I found
FileInfo(System.Environment.GetFolderPath(System.Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFiles)
but I think it returns the Program Files (x86) folder on a 64 bit windows machine.
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On Windows editions that support x86 emulation, there are two directories for program files. The C:\Program Files directory is for programs in the native system bitness, and the the C:\Program Files (x86) directory is for programs that run under the x86-32 emulator.
The Windows separated and created two different directories of the 32-bit program and 64-bit program. The Program Files stores all the 64-bit programs and the Program Files (x86) stores all the 32-bit programs. x86 stands for different processor types, i.e. 286, 386, 486, 586/Pentium.
The regular Program Files folder holds 64-bit applications, while "Program Files (x86)" is used for 32-bit applications. Installing a 32-bit application in a PC with a 64-bit Windows automatically gets directed to Program Files (x86).
System.Environment.GetFolderPath(System.Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFiles) returns "c:\Program Files" on a 64-bit machine, unless the code is build to target x86, in which case it returns "C:\Program Files (x86)", so I guess that would work for you.
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