I have some 32-bit GNU programs that I want to add to the system path on my Windows7-64bit machine, such as Curl.exe, WGet.exe, AutoExNT.exe, etc. I don't want to have to alter the system Path environment variable at all and so I want to place them in a location that is equivilant to "system32" on a old 32-bit system.
I know, that since these are 32-bit programs, that they wont run unless they are located in the 32-emulator directory: SysWOW64. I've tried, so I know this to be true.
I am confused as to why this directory is not part of the default system Path in Windows7. Is it safe or recommended to add SysWOW64 to the default system environment (not User level env)??
Is there something I am overlooking here? Is there a way to run a batch file with SysWOW64 in the path that doesn't require hacking the system path?