How do I determine if a non-LabVIEW windows program is installed on a computer?

[SciManStev]

I would like to know how to generate a true/false condition based on whether a program is installed on a target machine. I have a couple applications that need to self adjust with their functionality, based on which computer they are installed on, so I would only need to maintain one version of the code. The first step with the program would be to check program files, program files(x86), or the registry just to determine if the program is installed. The result will move to the next step, which is that if the program is not present, then is a specific GPIB device attached? I think i can determine that by trying to initialize the device, and reading an error cluster. What I am having trouble with is determining if a non-National Instruments related program is installed on the target computer. Any direction toward the solution is greatly appreciated.

[Don_Phillips]

Considering you can usually override the default install at location I do not think checking the file system would always be accurate.  However most software installs usually modify the registry.  You could determine what registery keys are created and, in your program, go see if they exist.

[SciManStev]

The software I am searching for is only installed by me, so it would be in the default location, but I like the registry idea better anyway. I have not worked with registry searches before with LabVIEW, so a couple of pointers on how to do it would be great. The whole goal is to have the program decide which computer it is installed on, so different levels of functionality can be achieved with a "One size fits all" approach.

[Don_Phillips · Accepted solution]

All methods:

http://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371361J-01/glang/windows_registry_access_vi/

Exasmple:

https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-12290

[SciManStev]

Thank you!

That was what I was looking for!