Windows Compatibility Mode
Every now and then, you need to run an application that was wrote specifically for a previews version of Windows and there are no updates for it. If you try to run the application on your current environment it will act on you and you will think that there nothing you can do to make it work better. This is something that can be address with the Windows compatibility mode options within Windows and here is a small tip for using this function.
I first came across this set of options not too long ego when I was trying to install QuickBooks 2006 on a Vista machine for a client. I searched around the web and one of the options that worked before for someone else was the Windows compatibility mode. It is very important to understand that this option is not perfect and it may not work every time but at least it did for my client.
The first step is to install the software you need, here is where you are going to have a challenge since the application is not compatible the system will try to persuade you from installing it. Give it a try and continue installing the application and if you are not successful try Google, most of the time someone try in the past and you will find tips and tricks to help you on this task.
After you have installed the application, look for it and instead of clicking on it to open it, right click, and open the properties panel. One of the tabs inside the properties window should read “compatibility” and here you have several options.
Compatibility Mode - in this option menu, you should see a drop down with several versions of Windows, read carefully your software specifications and select the correct one, click on the “Apply” button and hit “OK” to exit.
Display Settings - some software will require you to run it at a specific size or color settings, the performance of the software may be hit by the Windows user interface, this options allow you to set the software to ignore those too. Again, read carefully the software specifications, select the desire options, and click “Apply” then “OK” to exit.
Input Settings - this option is self explanatory, check the box inside this settings window to “turn off advanced text services for this program,” this might be affecting the general functionality of the software. Again, read carefully the software specifications, select the desire options, and click “Apply” then “OK” to exit.
The last thing you will notice on this screen is the “Learn more” link at the bottom, you can click there to learn more about this options and also to access a Compatibility Wizard that Windows has available for this purpose. Should you have questions feel free to post them on this article or use Google to find answers to almost all the questions you may have about this features.
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