# All prog. on hard drive
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 26, 2002, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880 "2002-07-26T04:15:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@msquestion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msquestion)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2002, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/1 "2002-07-26T04:15:20Z")
How can I get a list of all the programs on my hard drive? Thanks!
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### Author:  [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2002, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/2 "2002-07-26T05:10:51Z")
I’m not sure what you mean by all programs. If you mean applications, they should be pretty easy to find, as you can just look at the start menu and your directory structure and cover most of the bases.
If you mean a list of every single file on your computer, go to your command prompt, change to the root directory, and do this:
dir _._ /s
will do the trick.
If you’d like this list output to a file instead of trying to read it as it scrolls by faster that you could possibly read it, do this:
dir _._ /s \>c:\filelist.txt
which will place the list in a file named filelist.txt
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### Author:  [@ShadowWarrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowWarrior)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2002, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/3 "2002-07-26T11:41:58Z")
like DMC says, but if it’s executables specifically you’re looking for, try
dir \*.exe /s
or
dir \*.com /s
These lists will be substantially shorter than the _._ version - I just did _._ on mine, and it returned 5000+ files.
you could also use the windows ‘find’ tool ( a truly horrible piece of design, but it works) to search for the above terms.
Just out of curiousity, why would you require such a list?
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### Author:  [@ShadowWarrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowWarrior)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2002, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/4 "2002-07-26T11:43:37Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by ShadowWarrior \*
> \*\*I just did _._ on mine, and it returned 5000+ files.
> \*\*
heh… must remember to engage brain before hitting ‘submit’… that was just the windows directory… full c drive is 16,000 + files, and took about a minute to run
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2002, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/5 "2002-07-26T14:55:01Z")
at [download.com](http://download.com) you can find programs to print directory lists with sorts & other options.
msquestion, you should tell us what kind of computer you have, perhaps?
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### Author:  [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2002, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/6 "2002-07-26T17:21:51Z")
I would only add a bit more
dir \*.exe /s \> results.txt
That way you can peruse at your leasure in a text editor.
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### Author:  [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2002, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/7 "2002-07-26T18:36:13Z")
well, you have the .com and the .dll etc. So it depends on what you are looking for
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2002, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/8 "2002-07-26T20:52:17Z")
If you’re on a Mac, open Sherlock.
Find all items whose kind is “application”.
Note “Items found” count reported at top of window.
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### Author:  [@ShadowWarrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowWarrior)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2002, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/9 "2002-07-29T07:55:29Z")
I really want to know why msquestion wants to know this - it’s kind of bugging me now.
Please enlighten me!
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### Author:  [@msquestion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msquestion)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2002, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/10 "2002-08-01T01:28:55Z")
Thanks for the responses. The reason for my question is that I have deleted some programs from the Start Up Menu and I wanted to see if they were still on the hard drive and could be retrieved or if I would have to reinstall them. Thanks for all the help.
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### Author:  [@Morningstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morningstar)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2002, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/11 "2002-08-01T03:02:02Z")
The best way to find a list of programs (that had an actual installer program) is to look at add/remove programs from the control panel, accessible from the start menu. This way you can also clean up the ones you don’t want.
Hope this helps.
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### Author:  [@ShadowWarrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowWarrior)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2002, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/12 "2002-08-01T07:59:01Z")
The startup menu almost always consists of shortcuts, rather than actual programs. Therefore, there’s a good chance that the programs are still on your HD somewhere
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2002, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/13 "2002-08-01T16:12:05Z")
I have a software program that scans my HD for all my programs & checks to see if there
are updates for them on the web. Spiffy. Gives me a list of my programs.
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### Author:  [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2002, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/14 "2002-08-01T17:14:21Z")
I just happened to catch this in a newsletter the other day and remembered this thread. Here’s an audit program that essentially does what you’re looking for, among other things.
Courtesy of the [Langa Newsletter](http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-12-06.htm)-
[Belarc Advisor](http://www.belarc.com/Download.html)
It’s fast, simple, and concise. Give it a shot.
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### Author:  [@msquestion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msquestion)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2002, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/15 "2002-08-07T23:39:53Z")
Cnote Chris: Thanks for the info re: Langa Newsletter-Belarc Advisor. It gave me the info I wanted, plus even more. Thanks!
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### Author:  [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2002, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-prog-on-hard-drive/120880/16 "2002-08-08T22:30:07Z")
No problem.