Considering the following Understanding
regsvr32
calls the entry point DllRegisterServer
/ DllUnregisterServer
after loading the target DLL into its address space through LoadLIbrary
.C:\Windows\SysWOW64
But then on my 2008 R2 Box, I was able to register a 32 bit dll by the 64 bit regsvr32. How was that possible? Am I missing something?
The example I wanted to highlight in the screenshot was the last for which the Dialog pops up.
Click Start > All Programs > Accessories and right-click on "Command Prompt" and select "Run as Administrator" OR in the Search box, type CMD and when cmd.exe appears in your results, right-click on cmd.exe and select "Run as administrator" At the command prompt, enter: REGSVR32 "PATH TO THE DLL FILE"
This should explain how it happens exactly:
(source: alax.info)
regsvr32
will start it's another bitness twin internally to match the bitness of the DLL. This is how registration succeeds. You don't need to care whether you start 32-bit or 64-bit version of regsvr32
because it will take care of mismatch.
The scenario when you need to care is when you start regsvr32
from Visual Studio as debugging host. You want correct bitness there, because child process with actual registration will run outside of debugger and you won't be able to step your code through.
It seems Mats and my assumption were correct. MS have re-engineered the 64 bit regsvr32 so that based on the target dll bitness it may spawn up a new 32 bit regsvr32 process from %SYSWOW64% to register the DLL. To prove this point, I fired up procexp, spied on the pop up Window for the 32 bit DLL and here was what showed up.
Couple of things to note
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With