My suggestion would be (aren't you tired of all of these ideas :) Poll the registry (a quick and easy solution. Brycetech is correct. Look especially in the VB sections of the web. Lots of shared code there, even though you will have to modify it for C++) Also provide the option to search or let the user make the selection via text box and directory search (like the common dialogs allow) this should be available even if you find the entry in the registry. For a few months, I had installed poser on an ntfs partition, to see if it would perform better. The registry pointed to that section, but I was too lazy to move all the other stuff, so I eventually changed it and deleted the other installation. I have 5 or 6 partitions (more if you count 3-4 linux ones, but windows can't see those :)), and a DAZ installation takes many (5-10?) minutes to scoure my machine's contents. I much prefer telling the installation where to put stuff (though I prefer them to make a suggestion in order to minimize my typing) eric