How do I detect what .NET version the application is running on?

Question

I tried using Environment.Version.ToString() to determine what .NET framework on the target machine is in use, but it says I'm using .NET 2.0, when version 4.0 is installed.

How do I detect what version of the .NET Framework is running on the target machine?

Answer 1

Environment.Version.ToString(); returns version of your application not system, you can read the version from registry or search in %windows%\Microsoft.NET\Framework folders to find maximum number.

The registry key is HKLM\Software\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\ see How to detect what .NET Framework versions and service packs are installed?

Answer 2

To find out what versions of .NET are available on a machine, you need to look in the registry - see Determine which versions and service pack levels of .NET Framework are installed.
_{(Originally MSDN KB article 318785)}