Win6 64bit Programs files(x86)

[bewlay51]

Hi

I was wondering if there is a way to tell Windows 7 64bit to install all software to "Program File" rather then it suggesting a location of "Program Files(x86)"

 

The reason being, if the school have a mix of XP, Win 7 32bit and Win7 64 bit the shortcuts on the re-directed desktops might be looking at different places for the application. I plan on rolling out most apps via a GPO and MSI files, where will Win7 64 bit install these apps to?? "Program Files" or "Program Files(x86)"

 

Any suggestions please !!

 

Regards,

 

John

[irsprint84]

They have to be seperate for some wierd cross 32/ 64 bit runtime

 

I think there is a script but I were to do 64bit I do all at same time

[SneakyBeaky]

'Program Files' is only for 64-bit programs and 'Program Files (x86)' is for all 32-bit programs. The installation routine of the program should place the program code into a sub-folder in the correct directory. I have noticed that Vista and Windows 7 sometimes seems to get it it wrong on installation however. If 32bit applications are run in Program Files then windows may get confused as to which drivers etc to use. (Why didn't microsoft call the folders Program Files (x64) and Program Files (x32)?) 64-bit apps require different supporting files, such as DLLs and drivers. When you run a 32-bit program on a 64-bit Windows installation, Windows redirects folder requests from that program for %ProgramFiles% to the x86 alternative. This allows 64-bit and 32-bit programs to coexist without interfering with each other. 32-bit apps on Win64 need to use a "transition layer" called WOW (Windows on Windows).

For example, when you run Explorer in Win7 the 32bit version C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe will run. You can manually run 64-bit version: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe but Adobe Flash Player will not run in the

64-bit IE8 because Adobe has not yet updated Flash for 64-bit.

Edited February 24, 2011 by SneakyBeaky

[jamesb]

'Program Files' is only for 64-bit programs and 'Program Files (x86)' is for all 32-bit programs. The installation routine of the program should place the program code into a sub-folder in the correct directory. I have noticed that Vista and Windows 7 sometimes seems to get it it wrong on installation however. If 32bit applications are run in Program Files then windows may get confused as to which drivers etc to use. Why didn't microsoft call the folders Program Files (x64) and Program Files (x32)?

 

Because they're probably trying to kill off 32-bit applications, or at least encourage people to switch to 64-bit.

[Arthur]

Perhaps one way to solve this would be to create the shortcuts using Group Policy Preferences and then use a couple of WMI Filters to ensure the shortcuts point to the correct "Program Files" folder?

 

32-bit Windows

SELECT AddressWidth FROM Win32_Processor WHERE AddressWidth = '32'

 

64-bit Windows

SELECT AddressWidth FROM Win32_Processor WHERE AddressWidth = '64'

 

 

Why didn't Microsoft call the folders Program Files (x64) and Program Files (x86)?

That would be absolute nightmare from an application compatibility perspective. Just think of all the poorly written educational software that would break!

 

%ProgramFiles% always points to the OSs native "Program Files" folder. This means that when Microsoft release Windows 8 for ARM processors, the main program files folder will still be "C:\Program Files".

[Arthur]

Would using separate profiles work?

 

http://helgeklein.com/blog/2010/10/can-i-use-the-same-user-profile-on-32-bit-and-64-bit-windows/