How do I detect which version of Internet Explorer is installed?

Question

Is the best way to look under the Uninstall key of the Windows Registry? Is there a Microsoft API call which provides this info and is it supported from XP onwards?

Answer 1

The Version value doesn't seem to include the Internet Explorer version information that you would most likely need. Instead, look at either svcVersion or svcUpdateVersion for the information.

As an example, I am running IE 10 and if I query the Version registry value 9.10.9200.16798 is returned but if I query svcUpdateVersion 10.0.13 is returned. The latter corresponds to the actual Internet Explorer version which is 10.

REG QUERY "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v Version HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer Version REG_SZ 9.10.9200.16798

REG QUERY "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v svcUpdateVersion HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer svcUpdateVersion REG_SZ 10.0.13

REG QUERY "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v svcVersion HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer svcVersion REG_SZ 10.0.9200.16798