5. Using Older Programs with Windows 7If you try to install a program with a known compatibility issue,
Windows 7 warns you and opens the Program Compatibility Assistant to help you resolve the
problem. Sometimes, however, a program won’t install or will install but
won’t run, and you won’t know why. To get the program to install or run,
you’ll need to adjust its compatibility settings, and Windows 7 provides
two ways of doing this: Although both techniques work the same way, the Program
Compatibility Wizard is the only way you can change compatibility
settings for programs that are on shared network drives, CD or DVD
drives, or other types of removable media drives. The capability to work
with various types of media allows the Program Compatibility Wizard to
install programs that otherwise would not install. 5.1. Running the Program Compatibility WizardThe Program Compatibility Wizard is similar to the
Program Compatibility Assistant. The key differences between the two
are: Windows 7 runs the Program Compatibility Assistant
automatically when you try to install a program with a known
compatibility issue. The Program Compatibility Wizard is a feature that you can
use if you suspect a compatibility issue is preventing you from
installing or running a program.
You can use the Program Compatibility Wizard for basic
troubleshooting by completing the following steps: On the Start menu, the desktop or Windows Explorer,
right-click the program file or program shortcut and then select
Troubleshoot Compatibility. This starts the Program Compatibility
Wizard. The wizard automatically tries to detect compatibility
issues. Try to run the program using the recommended fixes. Click
Try Recommended Settings, review the settings that will be
applied, as shown in Figure 1, and then click
Start the program. After running the program, click Next and then do one of the
following: If the compatibility settings resolved the problem and
you want to keep the settings, click “Yes, save these settings
for this program.” If the compatibility settings didn’t resolve the problem
and you want to repeat this process from the beginning, click
“No, try again using different settings” and continue with
step 3 of the next procedure. If the compatibility settings didn’t resolve the problem
and you’d like to check for an online solution, click “No,
report the problem to Microsoft and check online for a
solution.” If you want to discard the compatibility settings and
exit the wizard, click Cancel.
You can use the Program Compatibility Wizard for advanced
troubleshooting by completing the following steps: On the Start menu, the desktop or Windows Explorer,
right-click the program file or program shortcut and then select
Troubleshoot Compatibility. This starts the Program Compatibility
Wizard. The wizard automatically tries to detect compatibility
issues. Because you want to perform advanced troubleshooting,
Click Troubleshoot Program after it completes its initial check of
the program. On the “What problems do you notice?” page (Figure 2), select options
corresponding to the problems you’ve seen. The selections you make
determine the wizard pages you see when you click Next and include
the following: - The program worked on earlier versions of Windows but
won’t install or run now
When you select this option, you are prompted on one
of the subsequent wizard pages to specify which
version of Windows the program worked on previously. As your
choice sets the compatibility mode, choose the operating
system for which the program was designed. When running the
program, Windows 7 will then simulate the environment for
this operating system. - The program opens but doesn’t display correctly
When you are trying to run a game, an educational
program, or any other program that requires specific display
settings, such as a program designed for Windows 98, you can
select this option and then choose the type of display
problem you are seeing. Your selections restrict the video display
using 256 colors, 640 × 480 screen resolution, or both to
help with programs that have problems running at higher
screen resolutions and color depths. Your selections can
also disable themes, desktop compositing, and display
scaling of high dpi settings. - The program requires additional permissions
When you choose this option, the program will
be configured to run with administrator privileges. Many
programs developed for Windows XP and earlier versions of
Windows need to run with elevated privileges to function
properly. The program will then always attempt to run
elevated privileges and prompt you for permission or consent
as appropriate. - I don’t see my problem listed
When you choose this option, the wizard will behave as
if you had selected all three of the previous
options.
After you work your way through the wizard pages, review the
compatibility settings that will be applied. Keep the following in
mind if you need to specify display problems: - Error message saying the program needs to run in 256
colors
Selecting this option restricts your computer to
8-bit, 256-color video display when running the program.
This setting is often required with games, multimedia, and
educational software developed for Windows 95/Windows
98. - Program starts up in a small window (640 × 480
pixels) and won’t switch to full screen
Selecting this option resizes the screen to 640 × 480
pixels when you run the program. This setting is often
required with games, multimedia, and educational software
developed for Windows 95/Windows 98. - Windows transparency isn’t displayed properly
Selecting this option turns off desktop composition
while running the program to prevent conflicts, such as
those that may occur when your desktop background uses
colors in one way and the program uses colors in another
way. Use this option to correct problems with the display,
particularly with the way the program uses colors. - Program does not display properly when large-scale font
settings are selected
Selecting this option turns off scaling when your
monitor uses a display setting with a high dpi. Use this
option if the program’s windows appear to be stretched and
you want them to appear normally. - Window controls appear cut off, or the program changes
visual themes when started
Selecting this option turns off themes and user
experience settings while running the program to allow text
on the program’s menus and buttons to display without
modification. Use this option if you have problems reading
or accessing menus and buttons within the program and you
want the program to use Windows 7 Basic experience
settings.
If you don’t want to apply these settings, click Cancel and
repeat this procedure to select different options. If you want to
test these settings, click “Start the program.” The wizard will
then run the program with the chosen compatibility settings. After running the program, click Next and then do one of the
following: If the compatibility settings resolved the problem and
you want to keep the settings, click “Yes, save these settings
for this program.” If the compatibility settings didn’t resolve the problem
and you want to repeat this process from the beginning, click
“No, try again using different settings and repeat this
procedure starting with step 3.” If the compatibility settings didn’t resolve the problem
and you’d like to check for an online solution, click “No,
report the problem to Microsoft and check online for a
solution.” If you want to discard the compatibility settings and
exit the wizard, click Cancel.
NOTE If your computer’s display settings are reset, don’t panic.
You can restore the original display settings simply by exiting the
program that is running in compatibility mode. 5.2. Setting compatibility options manuallyRather than using the Program Compatibility Wizard, you
can manually configure compatibility settings. This is handy if you
want to edit the settings after you configured them using the wizard.
Complete the following steps: 
Right-click the program’s shortcut icon and then select
Properties. Select the Compatibility tab, as shown in Figure 3. You cannot run
programs that are part of the Windows 7 operating system in
compatibility mode. Because of this, the options are unavailable
for built-in programs. By default, the compatibility options you select will apply
only to the selected application shortcut. To apply the setting to
all users on the computer and regardless of which shortcut is used
to start the application, click “Change settings for all users” to
display the Properties dialog box for the application’s .exe file and then select the
compatibility settings that you want to use for all users who log
on to the computer. Select the “Run this program in compatibility mode for”
checkbox and then use the selection menu to choose the operating
system for which the program is designed. Optionally, use the options in the Settings panel to
restrict the video display settings for the program. Select 256
colors, 640 × 480 screen resolution, or both, as required. Optionally, disable themes, desktop compositing, display
scaling on high-dpi settings, or all three, as required. Select the “Run as administrator” checkbox if the program
requires elevated permissions to function correctly. Do not use
this option for programs you do not trust. Click OK. Double-click the shortcut to run the program and
test the compatibility settings. If you still have problems
running the program, you might need to modify the compatibility
settings again, contact the software developer for an updated
version, or try running it under Windows XP Mode (for more
information on Windows XP Mode, see Section 4.3.4).
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