Is it possible to mount the NTFS and registry hives from a 64-bit Windows on a 32-bit Windows Preinstallation Environment (32-bit). Does 64-bit change the file format?
Also can x86_64 machines boot unmodified 32-bit OSes?
Asked
Active
Viewed 362 times
2 Answers
2
There's no overall data/schema differences between the registries of 32-bit and 64-bit Windows - obviously the actual content will be different but there's no structural differences no.
And yes an x86 64-bit machine can 100% boot a 32-bit OS straight out of the box.
Chopper3
- 100,240
- 9
- 106
- 238
-
content different? by how much? Will strings still be strings? – unixman83 Apr 11 '11 at 09:18
-
yep, that side of things is the same, but things like string contents will be different. – Chopper3 Apr 11 '11 at 09:36
2
NTFS is the same for 32- and 64-bit, so you will be able to read any files.
As for the structure -
The registry in 64-bit versions of Windows is divided into 32-bit and 64-bit keys. Many of the 32-bit keys have the same names as their 64-bit counterparts, and vice versa. KB article
so, your offline editor shall be capable of viewing/changing both parts.
alexm
- 458
- 3
- 11