reg query syntax

Ive been pulling my hair out for hours now, and I think its time to call in the reinforcements.

I am trying to determine if a specific version of java is installed during a login script, and if not, excecute a batch file to install it silently.

on another website I found a suggestion for this tack as an example:

reg query HKCU\Software\Winamp
if errorlevel 1 goto not_exist

when I try to put that into real world use, I dont get an errorlevel, but instead get more verbose errors.


for example, I input:
reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{26A24AE4-039D-4CA4-87B4-2F83216022FF}

and instead of getting the expected result code of 0 or 1, I get a list of all of the items under that key if it is installed, or a more verbose "ERROR: The system was unable to find the specified registry key or value." error if it is not.

I dont need to drill down into a software registry key to determine a version value, etc , as just finding the uninstall key is the quickest way for my needs.

ideas? am I missing a switch somewhere to return a result code instead of  verbose messages?