How to get the full path to system32 directory with c++ ?

Question

Although most of the time it's C:\WINDOWS\system32, but sometimes it can be in D partition or alike, how to get it programatically?

Answer 1

You can call the Windows API function SHGetFolderPath and ask for CSIDL_SYSTEM.

In Windows Vista and later, you can call SHGetKnownFolderPath and ask for FOLDERID_System. SHGetFolderPath is just a wrapper around this function in later versions of Windows, but if you want your software to run on Windows XP, you'll need to use SHGetFolderPath.

Answer 2

GetWindowsDirectory also is a possibility depending on the OS/purpose. Clearly SHGetFolderPath seems to be the MS recommended way