ConfigMgr 2007 and editing the registry during a Task Sequence on a 64-bit OS

Disable64bitTSOf course you know, deep down, that the ConfigMgr 2007 Client is 32-bit and that it will react a bit different on a 64-bit OS. The reason for this is of course the emulation layer, also know as Windows 32-bit On Windows 64-bit (WOW64), that enables a 32-bit application to run seamlessly on a 64-bit OS. 

As the ConfigMgr 2007 (RTM, SP1, SP2) Client is only available in a 32-bit version, you may run into some bumps on a 64-bit Operation System. One of these bumps is editing a registry key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software, because, for the ConfigMgr 2007 Client, this will get redirected to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\WOW6432Node.

Luckily there is an easy solution for this in a Task Sequence of ConfigMgr 2007. Just create a Task Sequence, add a Run Command Line –step and select Disable 64-bit file system redirection. This will makes sure that the use of the WOW64 file redirector will be disabled. 

Example UserName_on_ComputerName
An often used registry edit is to rename the Computer (on XP this is My Computer) to “Username on Computername”. To do this you need to edit the  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\LocalizedString –key. Without disabling the 64-bit file system redirection, the ConfigMgr 2007 Client will only change the key under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\LocalizedString. This will not make the change show in the menu or the explorer.

More information about the Run Command Line –step: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632992.aspx
More information about WOW64, Registry (and File System) Redirection and Reflection: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/64bit/WoW64_bestprac.mspx

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