Vista - Questions about Program files (X86)

When I go through to add files to my programs I am confronted with the option of two seperate program folders. One just reads Program Folders and the other reads Program Folders (x86). How do I know which program file to use when adding files? I see that some programs will reproduce themselves in my Program files(x86) folder on their own. Is this some sort of default folder for programs that either don't work with 64bit and/or programs that will work with both ?

Hi, Dan.

Program Files (x86) is - in my opinion - one of the more stupid names that
Microsoft has invented! :>( And they've invented some doozies! (Outlook
and Outlook Express. Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail and Windows Live
Hotmail. Just for a few recent examples.)

The explanation is quite simple - but not adequately explained, so far as I
know.

In a 32-bit Windows, all the applications go into Program Files. Case
closed; end of discussion.

In a 64-bit Windows, only 64-bit applications go into Program Files. This
way, Win x64 can match the .exe and .dll and other application files with
the appropriate 64-bit drivers and other support files.

A 64-bit Windows is quite capable of running 32-bit applications, too. But
if we put those 32-bit applications into Program Files, Win x64 is going to
be very confused as to which drivers and other support facilities to use.
So Microsoft created a NEW folder specifically for
32-bit-applications-on-64-bit-Windows. Because 32-bit apps traditionally
run on the "x86" family of CPUs from Intel (8086, 80286, Pentium aka 80586,
etc.), Microsoft decided to call this special new folder "Program Files
(x86)".

So, all your 32-bit applications should automatically install themselves (in
any 64-bit Windows) into Program Files (x86). All 64-bit applications
should automatically go into Program Files.

Now for my rant: Why couldn't MS have simply created a new folder and
called it Program Files (x64)? They could have installed 64-bit apps there
and nobody would have been surprised. When I first saw Program Files (x86)
in WinXP x64 beta about 5 years ago, I didn't know what it was and didn't
see any explanation. Since it was a new folder and only in Win x64, I
assumed that 64-bit apps should go there. It was several months before I
learned the truth (in a newsgroup, not from Microsoft) and by then, my app
files were hopelessly scrambled. :>( (I had been dual-booting for a few
years, and this simply compounded the problem for me.)

End of rant. I hope this helps.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@xxxxxx
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64

"danjbutler" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
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So would it be safe to say that if I needed to add a file to my program that I would add it in the program files for 64 bit, and if it needs to report to the (x86) it it will. I get the feeling I may have entered files in the (x86) and they are confusing my program because the program files were not exactly the same between the two anymore.

Hi, Dan.

I'm not sure what you mean by "add a file to my program". Are you talking
about data used by your program (a photo in Photoshop; a letter in Word; a
cousin in a genealogy program)? Or do you mean an update or add-on to the
application itself?

Normally, all the files needed to run the program are installed by the
application's Setup.exe or other installer. If it is a 64-bit application,
the installer should put ALL the files into folders in Program Files.

I also don't understand why a 64-bit program would "needs to report to the
(x86)". A 64-bit application should not know - or care - that Program Files
(x86) even exists. And vice versa for a 32-bit application and Program
Files.

If you want to run both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the same application,
then you will need two complete sets of application files: one in Program
Files and the other in Program Files (x86). This is the way that Vista x64
and Win7 x64 arrive, with both versions of Internet Explorer, for example.
You should find TWO sets of IE files, with the two main program files in
these locations:
The 64-bit application will be at:
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe

The 32-bit application will be at:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe

Downloaded files from BOTH versions of IE will go to wherever YOU tell IE to
put them. For years, I've put all my downloads into E:\Download, a folder
that I created OUTSIDE Program Files. If I'm downloading the latest Windows
Live Mail build or a driver for my video card, I tell IE to put the download
there - and it doesn't matter if I'm running the 64-bit or the 32-bit
version of IE8.

Both Program Files and Program Files (x86) are protected folders. That
means that I cannot put my downloaded file or my Word document or other data
file into either of those folders. Just like I can't put such files into
C:\, because that also is a protected location. But that has nothing to do
with "bitness". That is just Vista and Win7 enforcing the long-standing but
largely ignored rule that we never put DATA into a PROGRAM folder or into
the Root of a volume - unless we invoke Administrator credentials and
insist.

Is this what you meant?

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@xxxxxx
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64

"danjbutler" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
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