Consequences?

[Reverend]

What are the consequences, if any, of installing a 32 bit program to C:\Program Files or the other way around, a 64 bit program to C:\Program Files (x86)?

Thanks - rev

[Midknyte]

https://www.howtogeek.com/129178/why...es-x86-folder/

Why Are They Split Up?

This is a compatibility feature designed for old 32-bit programs. These 32-bit programs may not be aware that a 64-bit version of Windows even exists, so Windows keeps them away from that 64-bit code.

32-bit programs can’t load 64-bit libraries (DLL files), and could crash if they tried to load a specific DLL file and found a 64-bit one instead of a 32-bit one. The same goes for 64-bit programs. Keeping different program files for different CPU architectures separate prevents errors like these from happening.

[Reverend]

Sometimes the installation suggests a default destination and in this case it was x86. That's funny, funny I said, I didn't know that was a 32 bit prog. Clicked next and go 'Please wait while we install x64 bla bla' - but too late by then.

While waiting for a reply I realized the potential issue with .dlls and removed the program and put it in the right place. Thanks.