Windows 8 In Depth

Registry Redirection and Reflection

The 64-bit versions of Windows support running 32-bit Windows applications. This presents a problem because many Windows subcomponents (objects and dynamic link libraries) may be present in both 32- and 64-bit versions on the same computer, and information about their file locations and configuration is stored in the Registry under keys whose names were set in stone before Microsoft considered the need to distinguish between the two flavors. To work around this, when a 32-bit application attempts to read or write information to a few specific Registry keys, Windows silently uses an alternative location. The application is none the wiser. This is called Registry redirection. The result is that 32-bit and 64-bit ...