Sql Compact Installation

Is there any way by which we can find programmatically whether SQL Compact is installed or not... Actually I need to know whether the compact edition is installed or not in PC and so that I can include or exclude the SQL Compact dll... Because in my application there are different process that access the same .sdf file which will cause Access Violation error if those dll are included and compact is installed...

Any ideas?

Solution

I would assume a registry check is pretty reliable.

Command

reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition\v3.5"

Output

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition\v3.5
    InstallDir    REG_SZ    C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition\v3.5\
    Version    REG_SZ    3.5.5692.0
    NativeDir    REG_SZ    C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition\v3.5\
    ServicePackLevel    REG_DWORD    0x1

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition\v3.5\ENU
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition\v3.5\GAC

You didn't mention the programming language you're using, but if you want to do this from .NET, use the Microsoft.Win32.Registry APIs.