HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wow6432Node\Classes vs HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node

rather late, but here I go

Colin O'Dell writes:

I'm not sure, but I can tell you that my Windows 7 x64 machine only has the latter one. I do have HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wow6432Node\, but Classes doesn't exist inside that for me.

And you shouldn't have, HKCU is actually pointer to -> HKUS\UserSid

Now HKCU\Software\Classes is actually pointer to -> HKUS\UserSid\Software\Classes, and this one is actually pointer to HKUS\UserSid_Classes

Now here comes WOW redirection, and for example HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID becomes: HKUS\UserSid_Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID

ain't that fun?

So in short, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wow6432Node\Classes is most-likely a leftover after some misbehaving application (that was probably trying to figure out redirection by itself...)

jp2code writes:

We have hundreds of WinXP machines at our workplace still. Classes is installed on all of them, but not Wow6432Node

Weren't you perhaps speaking about 32-bit Win XP? if so, it's quite obvious, there's no Wow node...

See this article: Registry Keys Affected by WOW64

HKCU\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node is correct: it's the redirected location that's accessed by 32-bit apps when they ask for HKCU\Software\Classes on a 64-bit machine.

HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Classes should not exist. If it does, whatever wrote that key and its subkeys is buggy.

In fact, I think that HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node should not exist - it's not listed on that article I linked above and on my system I have only HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components with a few subkeys, which suggests to me they're in the wrong place.

I'm not sure, but I can tell you that my Windows 7 x64 machine only has the latter one. I do have HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wow6432Node\, but Classes doesn't exist inside that for me.