Generate a list of installed programs on Windows 7

I wanted to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional and needed a list of installed programs as backup. This was a precautionary step in case I need for format C:\ drive when upgrading. I wanted a list of programs in a text file which I can refer to.

How to do it

Follow these simple steps to generate a list of commands:

1. Open 'Command Prompt' from All Programs>Accessories> Command Prompt
2. Right click and run as administrator
3. Type the following command: wmic 
4. You will have a prompt wmic:root\cli>
5. Type /output:C:\MyInstalledPrograms.txt product

Note: This would generate a list with a lot of details which you might not be interested in such as Help Telephone number of the installed program, Install State, package name, package location, package cache,etc.

Generate a list with only name and version

Follow the same steps as above except for Step 5, type this command:

/output:C:\MyInstalledProgramsNames.txt product get name,version

If you found this useful, please note you can look up the Windows Management Instrument Command line tool for more powerful features. 

Hope this helps!