I am using .NET Installer as a bootstrapper and I need to detect if Adobe Acrobat 9.3 or above is installed as a prerequisite.
Currently I am using this registry to detect the installation:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\9.0\AdobeViewer\ELUA
I simply check to see if the key exists. This has the following problems:
- It depends on a registry path that will likely change with newer versions
- The ELUA key only exists after adobe reader is launched. If the install is run again before reader is ever launched it forces them to re-install
- This key does not allow me to really check what version of adobe they have.
FYI, .net Installer can check for existing products by file {exists / file version} or registry key {exists / version}. I prefer to use the registry as applications can be installed anywhere and I cannot scan the "Uninstall" registry keys using this tool.
Any ideas?