Problem: I was trying to install Ansys 15 64-bit on my Windows 8.1 64bit. In prerequisite check, it did not detect WIC as installed. The installer worked on my other laptop (also Windows 8.1 64 bit).
Solutions Tried I knew WIC comes preinstalled and there is no installer for Windows 8.1. (A setup for XP was available...tried to install it anyway, unsuccessfully). So, I tried updating my windows, checking system using SFC /SCANNOW etc.
Questios
1.How can I detect if WIC is installed on Windows 8.1? (A similar question for XP was asked. Its solutions don't apply here)
2.How to install WIC on Windows 8.1? (I don't want to reinstall Windows)
I found the answer after going through my other laptop's registry. It seems that many programs (like Ansys etc.) determine the availability of WIC by the presence of the following registry key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\WIC] "NoRemove"=dword:00000001
Once I added this key the Prerequisite Check program detected WIC as installed.