asked on 11/28/2014

C# get a list of programs instatlled on a remote machine (Add/Remove Programs)?

Hi,

I am looking at a good way I can interrogate remote machines to work out what software is installed
in Add/Remove programs via C#.

The issue is the various methods return different results.

Some people say don't use Win32_product. Some were saying this is bad for performance.

However the other methods don't seem to return the correct count.

Here are some interesting results....

Add/Remove control panel applet - 108 programs installed

Now compare this to the various methods:

select * from win32_product - 186 items.
select * from Win32reg_AddRemovePrograms - 71 objects.
select * from Win32Reg_AddRemovePrograms64 - 71 objects.

So why is there such a variance - I would of thought they should be *exactly* the same if not
close.

What are other peoples thought on the best method?
Why such a variance?
If I don't mind a performance hit is there anything wrong with using Win32_product?

Thanks,

Ward.

C#.NET Programming

Last Comment

Kimputer

12/1/2014

Kimputer

11/28/2014

Win32_product shows only MSI installer products. Software using their own installer won't show.
Try to list it with an internal process and capture the output of
wmic product list brief

whorsfall

11/28/2014

ASKER

Hi,

Thanks for your response.

Can you clarify what you mean when you say:

Try to list it with an internal process and capture the output of
wmic product list brief

So are u saying I should be capturing the output of:
wmic product list brief

Thanks,
Ward.

Kimputer

11/28/2014

Yes, in VB it's like this:

Dim p As ProcessStartInfo = New System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo("wmic", "product list brief")

You can probably easily translate this to C#, and then capture the output (each line is a software product, only the name)? That's all.

SOLUTION