Is there wow64 version of the Path environment variable for x86 apps on x64 OS?

Question

Can I somehow set the Path environment variable to a value that will be used only by x86 programs on x64 OS and will be ignored by x64 programs? If not, why Microsoft wouldn't allow for such functionality?

Answer 1

Hello,

Based on my search, the PATH environment variable itself could not be set to differentiate between x86 and x64 programs natively within Windows.

When it comes to the PATH environment variable itself, there is no built-in separate 32-bit and 64-bit PATH in Windows. Both 32-bit and 64-bit applications use the same PATH environment variable defined at the system or user level.

you may work around this limitation by using batch files or scripts that set the environment variables locally before starting a specific application. For instance, you could create a batch file for launching a 32-bit application that sets the PATH to include directories with 32-bit DLLs, and then launch the application from that batch file. Here’s a simple example of what that batch script might look like:

@echo off

SETLOCAL

SET PATH=C:\PathTo32BitLibraries;%PATH%

start "" "C:\PathTo32BitApplication\YourApplication.exe"

ENDLOCAL

Best Regards,

Hania Lian

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