- Install To Program Files Or Program Files X86
- How To Access Program Files X86
- Program Files X86 Problems
When you install a program on Windows, it appears to only install to a specific folder, generally under Program Files. For example, Apple’s iTunes software installs to C:Program Files (x86)>iTunes by default. In a simpler world, you could copy the iTunes folder to a new computer and run iTunes from the folder without any additional work.
so, I am an idiot apparently. I have had windows 8 64-bit for about 2 years now. I play all my games off an external drive that was completely blank when I got it, so I just made a program files folder called 'Program Files X86'. I made it like that just because I used to use 32bit OS' and I didn't know what it meant, so I just named it that to make sure it would work. Recently I learned that the X64 after program files meant 64bit programs (why did they make the original number X86 instead of X32 or something?) and That is why the task manager says that all the programs I run are in 32-bit.
- Windows setup/installer project: Forcing installation into “Program Files”, not x86? Program Files (x86) HisApplicationName'. I know the correct answer would be to rewrite the software to accomodate any directory the user chooses to install to, but unfortunately, this is very old sofware & needs to be installed tomorrow, so we just.
- Program Files x86. As with the ‘Program Files’, the ‘Program Files (x86) is the default name of a folder in a Microsoft Windows operating system, where applications are usually installed. Only with ‘Program Files (x86)’, the folder name is only created when running on a 64-bit operating system.
It would probably help some games a lot if I actually fixed this, but I want to be sure I am doing it right. Do I have to reinstall all the games into the new X64 folder and delete the original? Can I just copy them to the new folder? It won't let me just rename the original, plus that would probably mess things up.
When I say its where I install games, I am primarily meaning Steam games.
What should I do? Any help or advice would be nice. Can't believe I didn't figure out X64 meant 64 bit lol
Just out of curiosity, if I am creating a program installer, how should I decide in which 'Program Files' directory to install to? On 32-bit systems, the environmental variable '%programfiles%' is good enough. However, on 64-bit systems, 32-bit programs should not install to that folder and instead to '%programfiles(x86)%', which as I understand points to 'C:Program Files (x86)'. My question is: How should the installer decide which environment variable to use? Will the value of '%programfiles%' change for a 32-bit application, or should I always check first whether '%programfiles(x86)%' exists before using '%programfiles%', or should I do something entirely different?
Thanks! This is just out of my own curiosity, as I try to get used to 64-bit operating systems.
AniDevAniDev
2 Answers
When the 32-bit program (installer in your case) asks the system to resolve the ProgramFilePath constant (check the exact name in MSDN), the system does not return C:Program files, but C:Program files(x86). So it's the system that decides, not the application.
I'm pretty certain that I read somewhere that Windows did this for you automagically. In other words, if your installer was 32-bits, it would be routed to the x86 directory variant even though you were trying to install into Program Files.
I'm sure I read this on The Old New Thing but here's a link that supports the contention until I can find that one.
Install To Program Files Or Program Files X86
Ah, yes, here it is, from the ever useful Raymond Chen.
Commenter Koro is writing an installer in the form of a 32-bit program that detects that it's running on a 64-bit system and wants to copy files (and presumably set registry entries and do other installery things) into the 64-bit directories, but the emulation layer redirects the operations into the 32-bit locations. The question is 'What is the way of finding the x64 Program Files directory from a 32-bit application?'
The answer is 'It is better to work with the system than against it.' If you're a 32-bit program, then you're going to be fighting against the emulator each time you try to interact with the outside world. Instead, just recompile your installer as a 64-bit program. Have the 32-bit installer detect that it's running on a 64-bit system and launch the 64-bit installer instead. The 64-bit installer will not run in the 32-bit emulation layer, so when it tries to copy a file or update a registry key, it will see the real 64-bit file system and the real 64-bit registry.