Find MS PowerPoint's installed Path in VB.NET

_component = "powerpnt.exe"

Private Function GetComponentPath(ByVal _component As OfficeComponent) As String

        Dim toReturn As String = String.Empty
        Dim _key As String = String.Empty

        _key = _component

        'looks inside CURRENT_USER:
        Dim _mainKey As RegistryKey = Registry.CurrentUser
        Try
            _mainKey = _mainKey.OpenSubKey(RegKey & "\" & _key, False)
            If _mainKey IsNot Nothing Then
                toReturn = _mainKey.GetValue(String.Empty).ToString()
            End If
        Catch
        End Try

        'if not found, looks inside LOCAL_MACHINE:
        _mainKey = Registry.LocalMachine
        If String.IsNullOrEmpty(toReturn) Then
            Try
                _mainKey = _mainKey.OpenSubKey(RegKey & "\" & _key, False)
                If _mainKey IsNot Nothing Then
                    toReturn = _mainKey.GetValue(String.Empty).ToString()
                End If
            Catch
            End Try
        End If

        'closing the handle:
        If _mainKey IsNot Nothing Then
            _mainKey.Close()
        End If

        Return toReturn

    End Function