<s>
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
is	O
the	O
directory	B-Application
name	O
of	O
a	O
standard	O
folder	O
in	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
operating	I-Application
systems	I-Application
in	O
which	O
applications	B-Application
that	O
are	O
not	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
are	O
conventionally	O
installed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typically	O
,	O
each	O
application	O
installed	O
under	O
the	O
'	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
directory	B-Application
will	O
have	O
a	O
subdirectory	B-Application
for	O
its	O
application-specific	O
resources	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shared	O
resources	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
resources	O
used	O
by	O
multiple	O
applications	B-Application
from	O
one	O
company	O
,	O
are	O
typically	O
stored	O
in	O
the	O
'	O
Common	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
directory	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
standard	O
Windows	O
installation	O
,	O
the	O
'	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
directory	B-Application
will	O
be	O
at	O
%SystemDrive%	O
\Program	O
Files	O
(	O
or	O
the	O
localized	O
equivalent	O
thereof	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
'	O
Common	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
(	O
or	O
the	O
localized	O
equivalent	O
thereof	O
)	O
will	O
be	O
a	O
subdirectory	B-Application
under	O
'	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
later	O
,	O
the	O
paths	O
to	O
the	O
'	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
and	O
'	O
Common	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
directories	B-Application
are	O
not	O
localized	O
on	O
disk	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
,	O
the	O
localized	O
names	O
are	O
NTFS	B-Application
junction	O
points	O
to	O
the	O
non-localized	O
locations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
shell	I-Application
localizes	O
the	O
name	O
of	O
the	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
folder	O
depending	O
on	O
the	O
system	O
's	O
user	O
interface	O
display	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
'	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
and	O
'	O
Common	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
can	O
be	O
moved	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
system	O
startup	O
,	O
the	O
actual	O
paths	O
to	O
'	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
and	O
'	O
Common	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
are	O
loaded	O
from	O
the	O
Windows	B-Protocol
registry	I-Protocol
,	O
where	O
they	O
are	O
stored	O
in	O
the	O
ProgramFilesDir	O
and	O
CommonFilesDir	O
values	O
under	O
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE	O
\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Applications	B-Application
can	O
also	O
obtain	O
the	O
locations	O
of	O
these	O
paths	O
by	O
querying	O
the	O
Setup	O
API	O
using	O
dirids	O
,	O
or	O
through	O
Windows	B-Library
Management	I-Library
Instrumentation	I-Library
,	O
or	O
by	O
querying	O
the	O
shell	O
using	O
CSIDLs	O
,	O
or	O
ShellSpecialFolderConstants	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
x86-64	B-Device
and	O
IA-64	B-General_Concept
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
have	O
two	O
folders	O
for	O
application	O
files	O
:	O
The	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
folder	O
serves	O
as	O
the	O
default	O
installation	O
target	O
for	O
64-bit	B-Device
programs	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
(	O
x86	O
)	O
folder	O
is	O
the	O
default	O
installation	O
target	O
for	O
32-bit	O
programs	O
that	O
need	O
WoW64	B-Application
emulation	O
layer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
64-bit	B-Device
Windows	O
versions	O
also	O
have	O
a	O
%	O
ProgramFiles(x86 )	O
%	O
environment	O
variable	O
,	O
the	O
dirids	O
and	O
CSIDLs	O
are	O
not	O
different	O
between	O
32-bit	O
and	O
64-bit	B-Device
environments	O
;	O
the	O
APIs	O
merely	O
return	O
different	O
results	O
,	O
depending	O
on	O
whether	O
the	O
calling	O
process	O
is	O
emulated	O
or	O
not	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
be	O
backwards	O
compatible	O
with	O
the	O
8.3	O
limitations	O
of	O
the	O
old	O
File	B-Application
Allocation	I-Application
Table	I-Application
filenames	O
,	O
the	O
names	O
'	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
,	O
'	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
(	O
x86	O
)	O
'	O
and	O
'	O
Common	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
are	O
shortened	O
by	O
the	O
system	O
to	O
progra	O
~	O
N	O
and	O
common	O
~	O
N	O
,	O
where	O
N	O
is	O
a	O
digit	O
,	O
a	O
sequence	O
number	O
that	O
on	O
a	O
clean	O
install	O
will	O
be	O
1	O
(	O
or	O
1	O
and	O
2	O
when	O
both	O
'	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
and	O
'	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
(	O
x86	O
)	O
'	O
are	O
present	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
Windows	O
is	O
installed	O
on	O
an	O
NTFS	B-Application
volume	O
,	O
by	O
default	O
,	O
the	O
'	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
folder	O
can	O
only	O
be	O
modified	O
by	O
members	O
of	O
the	O
'	O
Administrators	O
 '	O
user	O
groups	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Those	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
had	O
no	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
security	O
,	O
and	O
programs	O
could	O
therefore	O
also	O
store	O
their	O
data	O
in	O
'	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programs	O
that	O
store	O
their	O
data	O
in	O
'	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
will	O
usually	O
not	O
run	O
correctly	O
on	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
systems	O
with	O
normal	O
user	O
privileges	O
unless	O
security	O
is	O
lowered	O
for	O
the	O
affected	O
subdirectories	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
addressed	O
this	O
issue	O
by	O
introducing	O
File	O
and	O
Registry	O
Virtualization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
this	O
virtualization	O
is	O
enabled	O
for	O
a	O
process	O
,	O
Windows	O
saves	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
'	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
 '	O
folder	O
to	O
%LocalAppData%	O
\VirtualStore\Program	O
Files	O
(	O
x86	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Language	O
of	O
WindowsName	O
of	O
the	O
folder	O
thatstores	O
program	O
filesName	O
of	O
the	O
folder	O
thatstores	O
shared	O
program	B-Application
files	I-Application
English	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
Common	O
Files	O
Arabic	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
(	O
for	O
WoW64	B-Application
)	O
Common	O
Files	O
Chinese	O
(	O
Simplified	O
,	O
Traditional	O
,	O
Taiwan	O
)	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
Common	O
Files	O
Czech	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
Common	O
Files	O
Danish	O
Dutch	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
Common	O
Files	O
Finnish	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
Common	O
Files	O
French	O
*	O
German	O
Hebrew	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
Common	O
Files	O
Hellenic	O
(	O
Greek	O
)	O
Common	O
Files	O
Hungarian	O
Common	O
Files	O
Italian	O
Japanese	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
Common	O
Files	O
Korean	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
Common	O
Files	O
Norwegian	O
Polish	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
(	O
for	O
WoW64	B-Application
)	O
Common	O
Files	O
Portuguese	O
Portuguese	O
(	O
Brasil	O
)	O
Romanian	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
Common	O
Files	O
Russian	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
Common	O
Files	O
Spanish	O
Swedish	O
Turkish	O
Program	B-Application
Files	I-Application
(	O
for	O
WoW64	B-Application
)	O
Common	O
Files	O
*	O
In	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
later	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
The	O
folder	B-Application
name	I-Application
was	O
the	O
same	O
as	O
in	O
English	O
in	O
the	O
older	O
versions	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
.	O
)	O
</s>
