Using %PROGRAMFILES(x86)% on Windows OS 32bit

Question

What happens when I use the environment variable %PROGRAMFILES(x86)% on a Windows OS that is 32bit (ie, older versions of Windows such as Windows XP, Vista)?

I am hoping that it will simply resolve to: C:/Program Files. Will this occur?

Answer 1

According to this the environment variable %PROGRAMFILES(x86)% is only available on 64-bit systems.

However, if you are on a 64-bit system and use %PROGRAMFILES%, the result you get depend on whether the process requesting the environment variable is 32-bit or 64-bit.

So from a 64-bit process on a 64-bit system you would get C:\Program Files, from a 32-bit process on a 64-bit system you would get C:\Program Files (x86), and from a 32-bit process on a 32-bit system you would get C:\Program Files.

If this doesn't help, perhaps you can comment or edit your original question to make it specific what you are trying to do. As it currently stands, the answer to your question is "No".

Answer 2

Keith Hill answered this question here, summary:

${env:ProgramFiles(x86)} is not defined on a 32-bit machine

If you always want to put/get data to/from x86 directory, then you can use this code to determine file paths:

$file = "\file"
if ("${Env:ProgramFiles(x86)}")
{
    $fullPath = "${Env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\$file"
}
else
{
    $fullPath = "${Env:ProgramFiles}\$file"
}