how to find the execution path of a installed software

Question

How can i find the execution path of a installed software in c# for eg media player ,vlc player . i just need to find their execution path . if i have a vlc player installed in my D drive . how do i find the path of the VLC.exe from my c# coding

Answer 1

Using C# code you can find the path for some excutables this way:

private const string keyBase = @"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths";
private string GetPathForExe(string fileName)
{
    RegistryKey localMachine = Registry.LocalMachine;
    RegistryKey fileKey = localMachine.OpenSubKey(string.Format(@"{0}\{1}", keyBase, fileName));
    object result = null;
    if (fileKey != null)
    {
        result = fileKey.GetValue(string.Empty);
        fileKey.Close();
    }


    return (string)result;
}

Use it like so:

string pathToExe = GetPathForExe("wmplayer.exe");

However, it may very well be that the application that you want does not have an App Paths key.

Answer 2

This method works for any executable located in a folder which is defined in the windows PATH variable:

private string LocateEXE(String filename)
{
    String path = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("path");
    String[] folders = path.Split(';');
    foreach (String folder in folders)
    {
        if (File.Exists(folder + filename))
        {
            return folder + filename;
        } 
        else if (File.Exists(folder + "\\" + filename)) 
        {
            return folder + "\\" + filename;
        }
    }

    return String.Empty;
}

Then use it as follows:

string pathToExe = LocateEXE("example.exe");

Like Fredrik's method it only finds paths for some executables