SysWOW64 (vs System32) behavior
I'm trying to sort out precisely what behavior I can expect from Windows if my application writes a value to "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32".
The documentation I've read strongly suggests that a value written here will also automatically appear in "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32".
Assuming that's correct, does it also adjust names and values for the corresponding SysWOW64 vs System32 folder? I ask primarily because writing directly to Wow6432Node is strongly discouraged ... but if the OS doesn't automatically make the appropriate
changes for me then I'm going to have to ignore that advice in order to make sure that everything gets configured correctly.
October 1st, 2011 12:36pm
TxITGuy wrote:
I'm trying to sort out precisely what behavior I can expect from
Windows if my application writes a value to
"HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32".
The documentation I've read strongly suggests that a value written
here will also automatically appear in
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32".
Assuming that's correct, does it also adjust names and values for the
corresponding SysWOW64 vs System32 folder? I ask primarily because
writing directly to Wow6432Node is strongly discouraged ... but if
the OS doesn't automatically make the appropriate changes for me then
I'm going to have to ignore that advice in order to make sure that
everything gets configured correctly.
Depends on your software. If software is running in 32-bit mode on a 64
bit platform of WIN7 all references to HKLM\SOFTWARE\xxx will be
redirected to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\xxx . That helps old
applications not needing to differentiate between 64-bit and 32-bit
platforms.
If software is running in 64-bit mode it only writes to
HKLM\SOFTWARE\xxx . If your software runs in both modes you need to set
parameters in both locations. And they are not automatically synced.
HTH
Wolfgang
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
October 1st, 2011 2:56pm