Check if SSMS is Installed

[jdubbish]

Does anyone know of a reliable way to programatically confirm whether or not the Management Studio is installed.

I've been looking at different registry entries, but have not been able to pinpoint a single entry that is reliable to check for from machine to machine.

I can't really check for a file in Program Files, as users can change the installation location.

I have an automated installation, but want to install the engine only if SSMS exists on the machine.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[JayKusch]

Maybe this may help (not sure exactly what you are tying to accomplish though).

http://www.sqldev.net/misc/ListSQLSvr.htm

Thanks

J. Kusch

 

[jdubbish]

Jay,

I appreciate the post, but I don't believe that article has anything to do with Management Studio.

To be more specific:
I am writing an application that will launch an automated installation of SQL Server 2005 Express with Advanced Services. I would like to modify the arguments I pass to the installer based on the user's current configuration. So, I want to check if the Management Studio already exists (any Edition), and install the Data Engine only if it does exist. If it does not exist I will install the entire SQL package (engine and tools).