Enabling or Disabling WOW64 Emulation on 64-Bit Windows-Based Target Systems

InstallAnywhere 2020

If 32-bit Windows-on-Windows (WOW64) emulation is enabled during installation or uninstallation on a 64-bit version of Windows, problems may occur. For example, operations for a 64-bit magic folder may be redirected automatically to 32-bit locations; this may cause 64-bit applications to be installed incorrectly on 64-bit systems.

However, if WOW64 emulation is disabled during installation or uninstallation, other issues can occur. For example, custom code that calls InstallAnywhere Windows Service APIs may not be redirected as expected.

Therefore, InstallAnywhere gives you control over when you want WOW64 emulation to be enabled and when you want it to be disabled.

Using the Advanced Designer to Enable or Disable WOW64 Emulation

To specify whether to enable or disable WOW64 emulation:

To learn more about the different elements for which you can enable or disable WOW64 redirection, see Windows WOW64 Emulator Settings.

Calling InstallAnywhere APIs in Custom Code to Enable or Disable WOW64 Emulation

InstallAnywhere’s APIs (IAClasses.zip) include a class called WOW64 in com.zerog.ia.platform. You can use the following APIs with this class to enable and disable WOW64 redirection.

WOW64.getInstance().enableRedirection();

WOW64.getInstance().disableRedirection();

For example, you can disable WOW64 emulation for the Install sequence but use custom code to enable it and then disable it again in specific situations.

Important • If you change the behavior for WOW64 redirection through custom code, ensure that you change it back through custom code once the override is no longer required. If you do not, the same WOW64 settings carry forward for the rest of the session.

See Also

Targeting 32-Bit and 64-Bit Windows-Based Systems

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