Delete Registry key (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node)

Question

Original Title: i have found this folder  {3A7D3E19-1B79-4E4E-BD96-5467DA2C4EF0} at this key (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node) is it a malicious file or not???

I want to delete those files which i can not uninstalled completely from my laptop, then i found this folder {3A7D3E19-1B79-4E4E-BD96-5467DA2C4EF0} on this key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node  in registry editor , so want to know is it a malicious file or not? and should i delete it or not?? i am using window 7 ,

Answer 1

Hi Asif,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community Forum.

Please be assured that we would do our best to assist you.

Please answer the following questions which would help us to provide a better solution.

1. Which application were you unable to remove?
2. What is the exact issue you facing?
3. What happens when you try to uninstall the program? Any error?

I understand that you want to delete those files which were not uninstalled completely from the laptop by deleting the registry keys but, I suggest you not the delete the registry keys as it might cause serious problems.

The Wow6432Node registry entry indicates that you are running a 64-bit Windows version.

The operating system uses this key to display a separate view of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE for 32-bit applications that run on 64-bit Windows versions. When a 32-bit application writes or reads a value under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE<company><product> subkey, the application reads from the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node<company><product> subkey.

Registry disclaimer

To do so: Important this section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ )

How to back up and restore the registry in Windows.

Hope this information is helpful. Please do let us know if you need further assistance, we’ll be glad to assist you.