Reliable way to detect whether Internet Explorer is 64 bit

Printable View

July 29th, 2013, 10:47 AM
AnotherMuggle

Reliable way to detect whether Internet Explorer is 64 bit

On recent versions of Windows, Internet Explorer is a 64 bit process but by default tabs are spawned as 32 bit processes. It is up to the user to change Internet Options to enable full 64 bit mode.

I need a reliable way to detect whether a users Internet Explorer is configured to run in full 64 bit or 32 bit mode.

I'm stumped. Is this possible?

Cheers,
AnotherMuggle
July 29th, 2013, 10:58 AM
VictorN

Re: Reliable way to detect whether Internet Explorer is 64 bit

Why does it matter?
And what if the user does not use Internet Explorer at all?
July 29th, 2013, 01:29 PM
AnotherMuggle

Re: Reliable way to detect whether Internet Explorer is 64 bit

Quote:

Originally Posted by VictorN

Why does it matter?
And what if the user does not use Internet Explorer at all?

Hi VictorN,

I need to be able to tell what version of Flash Player and Java are being used by the browser. I need to be able to detect whether the user is using 64 bit Internet Explorer to be able to determine what version of Flash Player and Java are installed for that particular mode. I believe it's possible to have different versions of the plugins installed for both the 32 bit and 64 bit modes. Also I need to make sure I am looking in the correct places in both the registry and the filesystem.

I am catering for other browsers but Internet Explorer is a real stumbling point at the moment.

Regards,
AnotherMuggle
July 29th, 2013, 04:21 PM
VictorN

Re: Reliable way to detect whether Internet Explorer is 64 bit

Flash Player Help / Find version
July 29th, 2013, 04:34 PM
AnotherMuggle

Re: Reliable way to detect whether Internet Explorer is 64 bit

Quote:

Originally Posted by VictorN

Flash Player Help / Find version

Thanks for the link. I've been through the information there but unfortunately it doesn't help with what I'm trying to achieve.

I need to detect the currently active Web Browser, Flash and Java versions as part of a much larger C++ application. This is an application used by non-technical end users who likely have no idea that Flash or Java even exist.

Cheers,
AnotherMuggle
July 30th, 2013, 02:31 AM
VictorN

Re: Reliable way to detect whether Internet Explorer is 64 bit

And what if you look at the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Macromedia and its subkeys?
July 30th, 2013, 03:02 AM
AnotherMuggle

Re: Reliable way to detect whether Internet Explorer is 64 bit

Quote:

Originally Posted by VictorN

And what if you look at the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Macromedia and its subkeys?

There is some useful information in there but it's where the 32/64 bit issue starts creating unknowns. Such as, should I be looking at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Macromedia or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Wow6432Node\SOFTWARE\Macromedia? There may be valid information in both places, but only one set of information will be relevant to a particular situation.

Also some issues may be a direct result of using a 64 bit browser. Microsoft themselves suggest that there may be some problems associated with the 64 bit browser and their suggestion is to use the 32 bit version in those scenarios.