C# - How to get Program Files (x86) on Vista x64

Question

I'm using:

FileInfo(System.Environment.GetFolderPath(System.Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFiles) + @"\MyInstalledApp"

In order to determine if a program is detected on a users machine (it's not ideal, but the program I'm looking for is a right old kludge of a MS-Dos application, and I couldn't think of another method).

On XP and 32-Bit versions of Vista this works fine. However, on x64 Vista the code returns the x64 Program Files folder, whereas the application is installed in Program Files x86. Is there a way to programatically return the path the path to Program Files x86 without hard wiring "C:\Program Files (x86)"?

Answer 1

One way would be to look for the "ProgramFiles(x86)" environment variable:

String x86folder = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ProgramFiles(x86)");

Answer 2

Note, however, that the ProgramFiles(x86) env variable is only available if your app is running 64-bit.

If your app is running 32-bit, you can just use the ProgramFiles env variable whose value will actually be "Program Files (x86)".