Windows 10Software

Software Compatibility mode in Windows 10

4/16/2015

Some legacy software may work improperly or even fail to run in Windows 10. It happens because of compatibility problems. And Windows 10 compatibility mode should be tried out at first as the most simple and effective solution. Here is how it works.

1. Right-click on the application executable file (with an exe file extension).

2. In the appeared menu click Properties.

3. Switch to the Compatibility tab.

Compatibility

4. Check the Run this program in compatibility mode for checkbox.

5. Select an earlier version of Windows from the drop-down menu.

6. Click OK.

7. Try to run the program. If it still has a compatibility issues, try to choose another Windows version. It is reasonable to begin from the version of Windows, in which you successfully used the application in the past.

Additional settings. Although the previously described steps are enough to solve the compatibility issues in the most cases, some programs have additional requirements.

Reduced color mode. Enable this option and select a mode from the drop-down list to use a limited set of colors in the application if it has been designed to use fewer colors.

Run in 640x480 screen resolution. Enable this option to run the app in a smaller-sized window if the graphical user interface appears jagged or is rendered improperly.

Disable visual themes. Turn on this setting to disable Windows themes on the application, if its buttons, menus or other widgets are displayed improperly.

Disable display scaling on high DPI settings. Enable this option if large-scale fonts are interfering with the appearance of the program.

Run this program as an administrator. Enable this setting to run the program with the administrative privileges. To enable or disable this option you should be logged on as an administrator.

To apply the program compatibility settings for all the rest user accounts existing on the computer click Change settings for all users.

Important notes

Make sure you are changing the compatibility settings of an executable file. If you change the settings of a shortcut, then the program runs in compatibility mode only when you click on that particular shortcut.

Some applications use multiple executable files. In such cases you might need to set the same compatibility mode properties for an each executable file used by the application.

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