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@SystemDir incorrect on X64 in 64-bit mode


Ackwell
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I guess the macro result is correct:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384187%28VS.85%29.aspx

"The %windir%\System32 directory is reserved for 64-bit applications. Most DLL file names were not changed when 64-bit versions of the DLLs were created, so 32-bit versions of the DLLs are stored in a different directory. WOW64 hides this difference using a file system redirector."

As I understand system32 contains 64bit dlls and 32bit calls are redirected to SYSWOW64... but sounds strange to me too :D...

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The reason the redirection is in place is that for years people have been using dlls with 32 in the name. For whatever reason Microsoft added these, it has now become a problem because everyone needs to use things like shell32 or kernel32. By making it automatically jump to the new files, that provides a cushion for the old programs to still run.

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Of course I see the necessity for the redirection… but why not just create a sytem64 directory for 64bit and let 32bit stay in system32? If the redirection mechanism can capture the calls by process architecture, sure that would’ve been a more logical way then putting 32bit dlls in a dir called SysWOW64 and 64bit dlls in the system32.

Edit: Hmmm, one reason might be that the redirection has an impact on the overall performance and MS thinks most programs run on 64bit machines are 64bit... but I fear that's not nearly true looking on the processes in my taskmanager :D...

Edited by KaFu
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