How to insert registry entries from a .reg file into 32-bit registry on 64-bit Windows

In 64-bit Windows (Vista/7), there's HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node where all the 32-bit registry stuff is. If I have a .reg file with some keys in it, how can I tell regedit to import it into the 32-bit registry (under Wow6432Node) rather than the 64-bit registry?

Even if I put the Wow6432 path into the registry keys in the .reg file, Windows "cleverly" ignores them and puts them in the main 64-bit registry.

Solution 1:

You should be able to access the 32-bit registry exclusively using the 32 bit version of regedit. Just import your .reg files using:

\Windows\syswow64\regedit.exe <REG_FILE.reg>

Solution 2:

If you're using reg import yourfile.reg from a 32 bit executable or a batch file, and for some crazy reason you want the keys inside yourfile.reg to NOT be redirected to Wow6432Node, simply use the following syntax:

reg import yourfile.reg /reg:64

As easy as that.

Solution 3:

The reg tool installed with the 64-bit version of Windows is aware of the registry virtualization technique. It has two new switches: /reg:32 and /reg:64. If you want to apply a registry export from a 32-bit system to a 64-bit system, use the following command line:

reg import <CONF-APP-32.reg> /reg:32

The reg tool has a command line help that explains this in a very short form via reg import /?.

...you will find this also online (though a bit hard to google) for example:

• MS-DOS reg command help
• Reg - Edit Registry | Windows CMD | SS64.com