How do I get the default system locale in Windows 7?

Question

I want to get the default system locale in Windows 7, I figured out that the login screen uses this. So I want to start one application during system startup, before the login screen appear. So that the result I get is user independent. Please let me know if any have pointers...

Answer 1

I do know Windows 7 introduces Trigger Startup Services which allows you to start services without requiring a user to log into the console. Hopefully this might point you in the right direction:

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/developers/archive/2009/10/26/windows7-trigger-start-services-part-1-introduction.aspx

Answer 2

You don't necessarily need to run this from the login screen, an example:

systeminfo /FO LIST | find "System Locale"

A Developer alternative can be found here: MSDN - GetSystemDefaultLocaleName

This result will be user independent!

Don't use a service just to get that value, services are meant to be long-running tasks.

Don't use credential providers either, they are used as authentication methods.