Weird behaviour when reading registry in C#

Question

Possible Duplicate:
C# WOW6432 registry node messin things up

This is the code:

var b1 = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("software", true); 
var b2 = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("software", true).OpenSubKey("company");
var r1 = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("software").OpenSubKey("company").GetValueNames();
string resultString = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("Software", true).CreateSubKey("company").GetValue(name).ToString();

I invoke it with name = "ApplicationDirectory". At the last line, the first two variables point to the correct locations (based on their Name property). The problem is with r1, which doesn't list the contents of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\company, but rather HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\company. Why is this? Is this some redirection in 64-bit machines?

Short answer: [Yes](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384232(v=vs.85).aspx). — Blorgbeard, Jan 24 '12 at 11:48
64bit computers have a section of registry separate to 32bit. I think it is called registry virtualisation. — Bali C, Jan 24 '12 at 11:49
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8959983/c-sharp-wow6432-registry-node-messin-things-up/8960020#8960020 — Haris Hasan, Jan 24 '12 at 11:49

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:01

Yes, there is a redirection for 32-bit applications on 64-bit machines. See comments on your question, and also this SO answer.

If you target .Net 4 or above, you'll be able to access both Wow6432Node (used for 32-bit applications) and "standard" node (the one used for 64-bit applications) as RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey method provides a parameter of type RegistryView that allows choosing the correct node to use.

If you're using .Net 3.5 or previous version, then you'll have to use P/Invoke if you want to be able to read both 32/64 bit registry keys on a 64-bit machine. You'll have to use RegOpenKeyEx and specify KEY_WOW64_32KEY as flag for desired access. But this is another story and out of the scope of your question.

Weird behaviour when reading registry in C#

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