Win32_Product class
The Win32_Product WMI class represents products as they are installed by Windows Installer. A product generally correlates to one installation package.
Note For more information about support or requirements for installation of a specific operating system, see Operating System Availability of WMI Components.
The following syntax is simplified from Managed Object Format (MOF) code and includes all inherited properties. Properties and methods are in alphabetic order, not MOF order.
Syntax
[Provider("MSIProv"), Dynamic]
class Win32_Product : CIM_Product
{
uint16 AssignmentType;
string Caption;
string Description;
string IdentifyingNumber;
string InstallDate;
datetime InstallDate2;
string InstallLocation;
sint16 InstallState;
string HelpLink;
string HelpTelephone;
string InstallSource;
string Language;
string LocalPackage;
string Name;
string PackageCache;
string PackageCode;
string PackageName;
string ProductID;
string RegOwner;
string RegCompany;
string SKUNumber;
string Transforms;
string URLInfoAbout;
string URLUpdateInfo;
string Vendor;
uint32 WordCount;
string Version;
};
Members
The Win32_Product class has these types of members:
- Methods
- Properties
Methods
The Win32_Product class has these methods.
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
| Admin | Performs an administrative install of an associated Win32_Product instance using the installation package provided through PackageLocation, and any command line options that are supplied. |
| Advertise | Advertises an associated Win32_Product instance using the installation package provided through PackageLocation and any command line options that are supplied. |
| Configure | Configures the associated instance of Win32_Product to the specified install state and level. |
| Install | Installs an associated Win32_Product instance using the installation package provided through PackageLocation and any command line options that are supplied. |
| Reinstall | Reinstalls the associated instance of Win32_Product using the specified reinstallation mode. |
| Uninstall | Uninstalls the associated instance of Win32_Product. |
| Upgrade | Upgrades the associated Win32_Product instance using the upgrade package provided through PackageLocation and any command line options that are supplied. |
Properties
The Win32_Product class has these properties.
AssignmentType
Data type: uint16
Access type: Read-only
Assignment type of the product.
Windows Server 2003: This property is not available.
Possible values are
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | The product is assigned by user. |
| 1 | The product is assigned by computer. |
Caption
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
Short textual description for the product—a one-line string.
Description
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
Description of the product.
HelpLink
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
The support link for the product.
Windows Server 2003: This property is not available.
HelpTelephone
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
The support telephone for the product.
Windows Server 2003: This property is not available.
IdentifyingNumber
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
Product identification such as a serial number on software, or a die number on a hardware chip.
InstallDate
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
This property is no longer supported for Win32_Product. Instead, use the InstallDate2 property, which is in the WMI CIM_DATETIME format.
InstallDate2
Data type: datetime
Access type: Read-only
Date that this product was installed on the system. This property does not require a value to indicate that the object is installed. For more information about WMI dates and times, see Date and Time Format.
InstallLocation
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
Location of the installed product.
InstallSource
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
The installation source directory of the product.
Windows Server 2003: This property is not available.
InstallState
Data type: sint16
Access type: Read-only
Installed state of the product.
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| -6 | Bad Configuration |
| -2 | Invalid Argument |
| -1 | Unknown Package |
| 1 | Advertised |
| 2 | Absent |
| 5 | Installed |
Language
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
The language of the product.
Windows Server 2003: This property is not available.
LocalPackage
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
The location of the locally cached package for this product.
Windows Server 2003: This property is not available.
Name
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
Qualifiers: Key, Dynamic
Commonly used product name.
PackageCache
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
Location of the locally cached package for this product.
PackageCode
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
The identifier for the package from which this product was installed.
Windows Server 2003: This property is not available.
PackageName
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
The original package name for the product.
Windows Server 2003: This property is not available.
ProductID
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
The product ID.
Windows Server 2003: This property is not available.
RegCompany
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
The company registered to use the product.
Windows Server 2003: This property is not available.
RegOwner
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
The owner registered to use the product.
Windows Server 2003: This property is not available.
SKUNumber
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
Product SKU (stock-keeping unit) information.
Transforms
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
The transforms of the product.
Windows Server 2003: This property is not available.
URLInfoAbout
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
The URL information for the product.
Windows Server 2003: This property is not available.
URLUpdateInfo
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
The URL update information the product.
Windows Server 2003: This property is not available.
Vendor
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
Name of the product supplier. Corresponds to the Vendor property in the product object in the Desktop Management Task Force (DMTF) Solution Exchange Standard.
Version
Data type: string
Access type: Read-only
Product version information. Corresponds to the Version property in the product object in the DMTF Solution Exchange Standard.
WordCount
Data type: uint32
Access type: Read-only
Number of words in the summary information for the product.
Windows Server 2003: This property is not available.
Remarks
The Win32_Product class is derived from CIM_Product.
Knowing the software packages that have been installed on a computer is useful for many reasons. Among other things, this knowledge helps you:
- Gain insight into what the computer is used for. A computer that does not have a word processor installed is probably not used for writing memos or other documents.
- Ensuring that only licensed software, and only approved software, is in use in your organization. If your organization has decided to standardize on Microsoft Excel, it is very useful, for both support and legal reasons, to know whether anyone has installed a different spreadsheet program on a computer.
- Tracking the progress of software deployment projects (for example, the number of people who have installed this new application and the number of people who have not).
- Planning for future software needs.
These activities cannot be carried out using Group Policy because the Software Installation and Maintenance component does not provide information on the software installed on a computer; it only makes that software available for installation. For example, although the Software Installation and Maintenance component can publish a software package, it provides no way to track which users install that package. This makes it difficult to analyze actual software use or to make projections for future software needs.
The Win32_Product class enables you to enumerate the software installed on a computer, provided the software was installed by using the Windows Installer.
Warning Win32_Product is not query optimized. Queries such as "select * from Win32_Product where (name like 'Sniffer%')" require WMI to use the MSI provider to enumerate all of the installed products and then parse the full list sequentially to handle the “where” clause. This process also initiates a consistency check of packages installed, verifying and repairing the install. With an account with only user privileges, as the user account may not have access to quite a few locations, may cause delay in application launch and an event 11708 stating an installation failure. For more information, see KB Article 794524.
Examples
The Powershell Remote PC Info Script PowerShell code sample uses a number of hardware and software classes, including Win32_Product, to find various information about a remote PC using WMI and the remote registry.
The List Information About the Binary Files Used by an Application VBScript returns the name and product code of binary information (such as bitmaps, icons, executable files, and so on) used by a Windows Installer application.
The following code example shows how to generate an inventory list of installed software on a local computer. The script generates a text file with a list of the software and versions installed on a local computer.
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" & _
"{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & _
strComputer & _
"\root\cimv2")
Set colSoftware = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("SELECT * FROM Win32_Product")
If colSoftware.Count > 0 Then
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objTextFile = objFSO.CreateTextFile( _
"c:\SoftwareList.txt", True)
For Each objSoftware in colSoftware
objTextFile.WriteLine objSoftware.Caption & vbtab & _
objSoftware.Version
Next
objTextFile.Close
Else
WScript.Echo "Cannot retrieve software from this computer."
End If
Requirements
Minimum supported client |
Windows XP |
Minimum supported server |
Windows Server 2003 |
Namespace |
Root\CIMV2 |
MOF |
Msi.mof |
DLL |
Msiprov.dll |