OS Compatibility – Are you having problems running older applications designed for Windows 95,98/ME, NT4 (service pack 5) or 2000 under Windows XP, Vista or 7.
This has always been a problem with each version of Windows in terms of backward compatibility, this poses a problem due to the amount of issues it encounters, such as memory management, hardware resources which are changing all the time, let alone from 10 years ago, this makes trying to employ compatibility with the number of older software standards around a major task.
Luckily Windows XP, Vista & 7 have a great feature called compatibility mode or Windows Compatibility Wizard which may be a little more accurate.
What is Windows Compatibility Mode ?
The Windows Compatibility Wizard allows us to take an application that was written explicitly for an older operating system such as Windows 95,98,NT4 and 2000 and run it under Windows XP, Vista or 7, of course there will always be applications that simply will not run no matter what, but due to personal experience I have found it to be very good overall.
When should I use Windows OS Compatibility Mode ?
To begin with install the application in question and then try to run it, if it fails directly, make sure there are no patches available to give Windows XP or Vista Compatibility to begin with.
Once you have checked this then it could be a good case for using the Windows compatibility wizard.
When not to use Windows OS Compatibility Mode
Certain applications in particular system utilities such as Antivirus, AntiSpyware, Disk or other hardware utilities, can cause major problems trying to run them in compatibility mode due to the access needed and the way they may need to modify system resources.
How to use Windows OS Compatibility Mode
Windows compatibility wizard is very straight forward to use, choose the application that you want to run in compatibility mode, and right click on it.
Now select the Compatibility tab – and select which compatibility mode you want to use, if your not sure Windows 98 is always a good place to begin.
As above check the Run this program in compatibility mode for, and then operating system options will be available
Many older applications and games may also only support 256 colors or a lower resolution of 640 x 480.
Once your happy with your settings select ok and launch your application again, if it still fails try some of the other options.
Like we mentioned earlier some applications will simply not run and the only way around is to actually run from its original version of Windows.
This does not mean you need to rebuild your computer or install on another, a viable option is to use a virtual pc – Virtual pc can be downloaded from Microsoft.com and it then enables you to run operating systems within operating systems, kind of like applications, from there you can install the application or applications you require.
Search for more on os compatibility modes
computer adviser windows compatibility mode article