texhex / BitnessHelper

Windows batch helper for 32- and 64-bit system folder locations

BitnessHelper

A Windows batch file to get correct 32-, 64-bit and native system folder locations. See this blog post for a full description of the problem.

How to use

Just download BitnessHelper.cmd, put it in the same path as the batch file you want to use it from and add the following line:

call "%~dp0BitnessHelper.cmd"

Once done, you can access the _BIT_xxx environment variables:

_BIT_CommonProg_32=C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files
_BIT_CommonProg_64=C:\Program Files\Common Files
_BIT_CommonProg_NATIVE=C:\Program Files\Common Files
_BIT_Is32=0
_BIT_Is64=0
_BIT_IsWOW=1
_BIT_PrgFiles_32=C:\Program Files (x86)
_BIT_PrgFiles_64=C:\Program Files
_BIT_PrgFiles_NATIVE=C:\Program Files
_BIT_SYSTEM_32=C:\WINDOWS\SysWOW64
_BIT_SYSTEM_64=C:\WINDOWS\system32
_BIT_SYSTEM_NATIVE=C:\WINDOWS\sysnative
_BIT_Type=32-bit emulated (WoW)

You can use those variables as you would do with any other variables. For example, if you want to execute a PowerShell script using the native PowerShell.exe (32-bit on a 32-bit machine, 64-bit on a 64-bit machine), the entire batch file would like this:

REM This will provide the _BIT_xxx variables
call "%~dp0BitnessHelper.cmd"

REM This will work in 32-bit, 64-bit or when running as WOW
"%_BIT_SYSTEM_NATIVE%\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\MyScript.ps1"

Contributions

Any constructive contribution is very welcome! If you encounter a bug or have an addition, please create a new issue.

License

Copyright © 2010-2016 Michael Hex. Licensed under the Apache 2 License. For details, please see LICENSE.txt.