How do get the path of Program Files regardless of the architecture of the target machine

c# .net special-folders program-files
PICyourBrain picture PICyourBrain · Feb 17, 2010 · Viewed 23k times · Source

I'm programming in C#/.NET. I want to be able to return the Program Files directory from the target machine no matter what the architecture of the target machine is. To clarify, I want it to return C (or whatever drive the OS is on):/Program Files no matter what bitness their version of Windows is.

I could just hardcode in the directory except if the user was running Windows that's not installed on the C: drive it wouldn't work.

I found

FileInfo(System.Environment.GetFolderPath(System.Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFiles)

but I think it returns the Program Files (x86) folder on a 64 bit windows machine.

Answer

Fredrik Mörk picture Fredrik Mörk · Feb 17, 2010

System.Environment.GetFolderPath(System.Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFiles) returns "c:\Program Files" on a 64-bit machine, unless the code is build to target x86, in which case it returns "C:\Program Files (x86)", so I guess that would work for you.

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