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I have a 32-bit application that I'm packaging with InstallShield 2009 Premier. I would like to be able to install it on 32- and 64-bit machines, but the InstallShield installer doesn't seem to be able to automatically detect that it's being run on a 64-bit machine and consequently redirect the creation of registry keys to HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node... and the creation of files to C:\Program Files (x86)... Despite my best googling, I can't seem to find out how to configure the InstallShield project to account for this.

Any ideas?

Trevor
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  • Are you creating an InstallScript install, or a Windows Installer (.MSI) install? – William Leara Sep 03 '11 at 01:39
  • There should be no configuration necessary to get the behavior you want. Tons of people request the feature that you want to avoid. What project type are you using, and how are you diagnosing that things don't go to the right place? – Michael Urman Sep 06 '11 at 13:13
  • Unfortunately, I'm working with a team of people on this (urgh!) and so I don't think I'm quite getting the whole story. I spoke with someone this morning and we determined that the redirects are working appropriately for the file system and for the Local Machine hive. Should data in the Current User hive also redirect to a Wow6432Node key? – Trevor Sep 06 '11 at 17:34
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    HKCU doesn't have a 64-bit redirect, so no they shouldn't. Registry reads and writes in the application shouldn't mention Wow6432Node directly; if they need to do something cross-hive, they should use KEY_WOW64_32KEY or KEY_WOW64_64KEY (per http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384182(v=vs.85).aspx directions) instead. – Michael Urman Sep 08 '11 at 04:09

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Since you have a 32-bit application, you need to leave its installer the way it is.

Wow6432Node and Program Files (x86) were specifically designed for 32-bit applications. On a 64-bit machine Program Files and HKLM\Software are for 64-bit applications only.

A mixed 32/64-bit installer can be used only for an AnyCPU application.

Cosmin
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