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Hi,
I am looking for a way to find out the path to a users Program Files folder. I know the SHGetSpecialFolderPath API (or SHGetFolderPath for Win 2000 or later) using the CSIDL 'CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES' will get this but the problem is I can't guarantee users will have shell32.dll version 5.0 or later installed. I know if they have Internet Explorer 5.0 or later running they will have the requisite version of this dll but if they don't....

I am thinking about simply checking a registry key (which is no doubt what the shell programs do anyway). On Win 2000 the key is:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ProgramFilesDir

However I don't whether this is consistent across various Windows versions.
Any ideas much appreciated.
Cheers,
Andrew

Hi,

I would stick to SHGetSpecialFolderPath. Minimum DLL Version shell32.dll version 4.71 or later which is what almost everybody has (I suppose)

Antonis

Hi Akyprian,
Thanks for your reply. I have been doing some digging around and have discovered that Microsoft actually intended the writers of installation programs for Win 9x to query the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ProgramFilesDir to get the program files directory. The key is universal across all versions of Windows too.

Cheers,
Andrew