Add/Remove Programs and Registry

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1. Mandatory Parameters

Registry Keys

Information displayed in Add/Remove Programs are stored in registry:

[HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\My_Application_Flag]

Where “My_Application_Flag” can be the product code or the name of the application

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Mandatory Values

To create an entry in Add/Remove Programs, 3 values are mandatory:

  • DisplayName: The name of the application
  • InstallLocation: The install directory of the application
  • UninstallString: The command allowing uninstalling the application

Those values must not be empty, but a simple dot (.) is sufficient.

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2. Optional Parameters

  • DisplayIcon: Path to the icon (exe or ico file)
  • DisplayVersion: Version of the application
  • Publisher: Manufacturer of the application
  • NoRemove: When set to “1”, deactivates the “Uninstall” button
  • NoRepair: When set to “1”, deactivates the “Repair” button
  • NoModify: When set to “1”, deactivates the “Modify” button
  • InstallDate: Application installation date (yyyymmdd)

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3. Example

Create the following reg file and import it in registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\My_Application]
"DisplayName”=”My Application”
“InstallLocation”=”C:\\Program Files\\ My Application”
“UninstallString”=”.”
“DisplayIcon”= ”C:\\Program Files\\ My Application\MyApp.exe”
“DisplayVersion”=”4.5.2”
“Publisher”=”DBS Corp”
“NoRemove”=dword:00000001