Using the Program Compatibility Wizard
Use the Program Compatibility Wizard when you need to run an
older program that was not created for Windows XP.
I haven’t found a more reliable way to open the Program Compatibility
Wizard than by browsing through the Help and Support Center. On some
computers, the Program Compatibility Wizard can be located by clicking Start |
All Programs | Accessories, although it isn’t located there on my computer.
It is on a friend’s computer, though, so to be safe, I suggest that you open the
Program Compatibility Wizard this way:
1. Click Start | Help And Support.
2. Select Fixing A Problem, near the bottom of the left column. From
the resulting Fixing A Problem list, select Application And Software
Problems.
3. From the results, click Getting Older Programs To Run On
Windows XP.
4. In the article that appears, locate and click Start The Program
Compatibility Wizard. Click Next to start the wizard.
You then have options for locating the program.
5. If the CD is in the CD-ROM drive, select I Want To Use The Program
In The CD-ROM Drive and click Next. If the CD is not available and
the program is stored on the hard drive or on a network, select I Want
To Locate The Program Manually, and then click Next.
6. If you chose to install from a CD, skip this step. If searching manually
for an application, click Browse. Locate and select the application’s
installation or setup file. Sometimes this is called setup.exe, or it is the
name of the program itself. Generally, there’s an icon for this file in the
Programs folder on the C: drive. If you have trouble manually locatingthe program folder on the hard drive, in the Look In window select
Local Disk (generally C:), expand Documents And Settings, expand
the folder that contains your username, expand Start Menu, and
expand Programs. The program’s folder will probably be in there.
To configure settings for a program that’s already installed, select I
Want To Choose From A List Of Programs, then click Next. A list of
programs appears. Once you select the program you’re looking for:
1. Continue with the wizard by selecting the original operating system
the program was created for. Click Next.
2. Select the display settings suggested by the
program manufacturer, generally noted on
the packaging. Click Next.
3. To test the new settings, click Next. If the
program runs as it should, close the program,
and select Yes, Set This Program To Always
Use These Compatibility Settings. If the result
was not satisfactory, select No, Try Different
Compatibility Settings.
You can also set compatibility settings by
right-clicking any installed program and selecting
Properties. Every program’s Properties dialog box
has a Compatibility tab, but not all programs offer
the ability to change these settings. For instance,
right-clicking Windows Media Player 10, a program
created by Microsoft specifically for Windows XP,
has all of the compatibility options grayed out and
unavailable. Conversely, many third-party programs’
Compatibility options are available.