Try to create a word.application object, wrap this in an error handler and, if there is an error, Word.application cannot be instantiated.

>I am looking for a way to reliably detect (in the Registry) the installation of Word'97 so I can use its spell-checker in my app. The best suggestion I have seen so far is to use the app associated with .doc via the code at the bottom of this post. The downside
>
>

> declare long FindExecutable in "shell32.dll" ;
> string cFile, string cDirectory, string @cResult
> cBuffer = space(255)
> nRetVal =
> FindExecutable("testit.doc",getenv('temp') , @cBuffer)
> if nRetVal < 32
>   messageBox("You don't have Word installed.",64,;
>    'File Opening Problem')
>   return
> endif
>

>
>The problem is that if a user has the Word Viewer installed, it will still return true; the same could be said if someone has WordPro installed....