Wow6432Node
The HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node
registry entry indicates that
you’re running a 64-bit version of Windows. The OS uses this key to present a
separate view of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE
for 32-bit applications that run
on a 64-bit version of Windows. When a 32-bit application queries a value under
the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\\[subkey]
, the application reads from the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\\[subkey]
.
The interesting thing is, there’s also a Wow6432Node
under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes
, which is a Classes
branch of
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node
. If you change one, then another is
also changed. They should be the same thing mapped to different locations.