Fixed: HxD lists contents of one folder which belong to another

Bug reports concerning HxD.
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AlwaysFun
Posts: 1
Joined: 18 Sep 2014 14:31

Fixed: HxD lists contents of one folder which belong to another

Post by AlwaysFun »

When I try to open a file in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\ , I don't see the files for that folder displayed. The files which are displayed are from C:\Windows\SysWOW64\drivers\. When I try to open a file in C:\Windows\SysWOW64\drivers\, I see the same files. In other words, files in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\ are inaccessible.

This appears to be an HxD bug because Windows Explorer lists the files correctly, as does "Everything" from voidtools.com. Also, I can switch hard drives on my computer and boot to a different hard drive. Then I can see the formerly inaccessible files because Windows has now reassigned the drive letter, in my case it becomes U:\Windows\System32\drivers\ . When I use this second hard drive as a boot drive, the files on it in C:\Windows\SysWOW64\drivers\ are incorrectly listed under C:\Windows\System32\drivers\, repeating the same type of error made when the first hard drive was the boot drive.

My operating system is Windows 7 Professional, 64 bit. The version of HxD I have is 1.7.7.0.

Here is a possible cause. Quoting from http://www.samlogic.net/articles/32-64- ... swow64.htm :
But what about 32-bit applications that have the system path hard coded and is running in a 64-bit Windows? How can they find the new SysWOW64 folder without changes in the program code, you might think. The answer is that the emulator redirects calls to System32 folder to the SysWOW64 folder transparently so even if the folder is hard coded to the System32 folder (like C:\Windows\System32), the emulator will make sure that the SysWOW64 folder is used instead. So same source code, that contains a path with the System32 folder included, can be compiled to both 32-bit and 64-bit program code without any changes.
Maël
Site Admin
Posts: 1455
Joined: 12 Mar 2005 14:15

Re: HxD lists contents of one folder which belong to another

Post by Maël »

Yes, for 32 bit programs there is a redirection of system directories under 64 bit versions of Windows. It can be deactivated, but is not advisable as parts of the system may rely on it (for example DLLs that get loaded by Explorer extension as in the open file dialog).

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/arc ... 04021.aspx

In other words, it may cause issues for libraries or programs beyond HxD's control.

But a 64 bit version of HxD will be available, which will fix this automatically by being 64 bit.
Maël
Site Admin
Posts: 1455
Joined: 12 Mar 2005 14:15

Re: HxD lists contents of one folder which belong to another

Post by Maël »

Since HxD 2.0 is available since a while (as RC), this bug can be closed, as mentioned above.
http://mh-nexus.de/downloads/HxDSetup.zip
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