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Windows Compatibility Mode

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games

System abstraction

General

Utilities

Windows (XP and later) includes an underlying compatibility engine that uses compatibility shims to apply fixes and changes for applications that might otherwise not function properly. This is intended as a way to enhance backwards compatibility for older applications, but can also be used for solving or working around various issues that an application might have.

The compatibility engine includes a wide array of compatibility fixes and modes available for use by system administrators through the Compatibility Administrator utility included with the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Application Compatibility Toolkit for 7 and older). However, most of those are not of interest for the average end-user, so Microsoft makes a few key compatibility settings easily accessible through the Compatibility tab in the properties of an executable or shortcut.

Windows includes a pre-installed internal application compatibility database that contains fixes and modes for specific applications with known issues on newer systems. New entries to this database are added with Windows updates.

The application compatibility engine component is forcefully always enabled in Windows 8.1 and later.[1]

Note that compatibility settings will not fix problems such as missing DLL errors or rainbow colors. Refer to their respective pages for further details.

Accessing compatibility settings
  1. Right-click the executable or shortcut of the game
  2. From the drop-down menu, select Properties.
  3. Once the window is open, select the Compatibility tab.

Notes

If using a shortcut, be sure that it points directly to the executable of the game as otherwise the compatibility settings might be applied on the launcher/client of the game instead (ex. Steam, Origin, etc).
Applied compatibility settings are stored in the Windows registry, based on if if it was applied for a single user or all.

More information

Make older programs compatible with Windows
Compatibility Fixes for Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista
Compatibility Administrator User's Guide
Application to bulk manage compatibility settings

Related articles

Missing DLL errors
DirectDraw troubleshooting

Compatibility mode

Try enabling this setting and choosing a Windows version that the game was originally designed for. The versions listed will vary somewhat depending on the version of Windows that is currently being used as well as the CPU architecture of the game (32-bit/64-bit).

As of Windows 11, here are all the possible options:

  • Windows 95
  • Windows 98 / Windows Me
  • Windows NT 4.0 (Service Pack 5) - no longer listed but can be entered manually (e.g. the PCGW-hosted fix for Homeworld hardware acceleration implements it)
  • Windows 2000 (SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4)
  • Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
  • Windows XP (Service Pack 3)
  • Windows Server 2003 (Service Pack 1)
  • Windows Server 2008 (Service Pack 1)
  • Windows Server 2012 (Service Pack 1)
  • Windows Server 2016 (Service Pack 1)
  • Windows Vista
  • Windows Vista (Service Pack 1)
  • Windows Vista (Service Pack 2)
  • Windows 7
  • Windows 8

Settings