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Sharing 32 and 64-bit User Profiles


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Summary

Microsoft Windows operates on multiple processor architectures, most notably x86 and x64. User data and configuration settings are stored in a user profile. This user profile includes COM registration, file and registry virtualization information, application settings, and well-known folder locations which may differ from 32-bt and 64-bit versions of Windows. The differences can create unknown behaviors when attempting to roam user profiles between 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. Currently, this scenario has too many variables to adequately test the interoperability. Therefore, sharing roaming user profiles between 32 and 64-bit Windows is not supported.

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More Information

Things to consider when attempting to roam user profiles between 32 and 64-bit Windows are:
  • The location of the various programs are stored in the registry as static paths C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86)
  • COM registration between 32 and 64-bit computer. A 64-bit COM component will not work on the 32-bit version of Windows
  • Wow64 and registry and file virtualization data
  • Other user and application data that contain different settings and locations (on the file system or the registry) based on processor architecture.

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Keywords: kb

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Article Info
Article ID : 2384951
Revision : 1
Created on : 1/7/2017
Published on : 8/14/2013
Exists online : False
Views : 516