INFO: Locating Program Files on Localized Versions of Windows
Article ID: 178625
Article Last Modified on 2/22/2007
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
- Microsoft Windows 95
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
This article was previously published under Q178625
SUMMARY
In many cases, applications cannot find the path of the Program
Files directory in international versions of Windows because the path is
not C:\Program Files. For example, on German Windows 95, it is called
Programme. The problem occurs when developers hard code the location of the
Program Files directory. Instead, developers should refer to the system
registry to identify the location of the Program Files directory.
MORE INFORMATION
You can find a glossary of localized names for each country on the
Microsoft Developer's Network (MSDN), "Development Platform-INTL," disc 1.
On the disc, there is a folder for each country's glossaries. For example,
in the German folder, there are several Microsoft Excel files (.xls). One
of them is for Window 95. In German Windows 95, Program Files is
"Programme" as specified in the file.
However, to ensure that your application can run on any platform, it can
check the registry value for the location of a directory. This approach
eliminates the need to hard code the directory path. Refer to the value for
the ProgramFilesDir key at
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion] to find the
localized name of the Program Files directory.
Keywords: kbinfo kbintldev KB178625