The Compatibility Wizard is a good choice for first-time users of the Compatibility Mode feature and for situations in which you aren't sure which Windows version the program in question was written for. The Compatibility Wizard enables you to test various Windows versions and settings on the application to determine which emulation works best for it. You can run the Compatibility Wizard for a program that's already installed or for a program you haven't installed yet. The wizard will walk you through either scenario. To run the Compatibility Wizard, follow these steps:
- Choose Start | All Programs | Accessories | Program Compatibility Wizard. This opens the Help And Support Center with the Program Compatibility Wizard running inside it.
- Read the information on the Welcome screen and click Next.
- When asked how you want to locate the program, choose one of the options below Figure A.
| Figure A |
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- If the program is already installed, choose I Want To Choose From A List Of Programs. Then, when you click Next, Windows searches for installed programs and presents a list (Figure A). Choose the one you want and click Next.
- If the program is not installed yet and comes on CD-ROM, choose I Want To Use The Program In The CD-ROM Drive (and then insert the CD). If the Setup program tries to run automatically at this point, close it because you are not ready to run it yet. Then click Next in the wizard.
- If the program is not installed yet and the Setup file for it is located somewhere else, choose I Want To Locate The Program Manually. Then click Next and either type the name/path to the file or use Browse to locate it. Click Next to continue. The wizard will ask which version of Windows you want to try (Figure B). Select the version you want and click Next.
- If you need to use 256-color, 640 x 480 resolution, or turn off visual themes, mark the appropriate check boxes for these options and click Next (Figure C).
| Figure B |
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| Figure C |
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- A summary will appear; click Next to try to run the program (or its Setup).
- When you have decided whether or not the program works with these settings, return to the wizard, indicate your answer, and then click Next. If you choose Yes, the Compatibility Wizard saves the current compatibility settings for that application and will run it using those settings from now on. (This isn't all that useful for a Setup program, but it's great if you did it for an already-installed application.)
- You'll be prompted to send information to Microsoft. Click Yes or No and then click Next | Finish.
An important note
If you used the Compatibility Wizard to install an application, you must use it again to set up the program to run in a particular emulation; the two activities are separate. Some programs require Compatibility Mode for setup but not for normal operation -- others, vice versa. Some require it for both.
Once you've set a program up for Compatibility Mode, it will run that way every time. If you ever want to remove Compatibility Mode from that program, you can run the wizard again and choose that option, or you can remove it manually, as you'll learn in the following article.
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I have a computer i got yesterday and it didn't come with a windows xp home cd(s) and when i turned it on i got, (The system is not fully installed: Please run setup again. I havee the 6 startup disketts but it just does the same thing and i need to install win98se on here, How can i get it to to a, a> to format the hard drive to install 98?, PLEASE SEND EMAIL IN CARE OF JAMES XP HELP
I HAVE XP AND NEED TO KNOW IF I CAN INSTALL MS-DOS TO RUN SOME OLD PROGRAMS FROM 1994?
You can not install Ms-dos on Xp because there are 2 diffrent operating systems. Though there is several things you can do to get your old applications working if they dont work in compatibilty mode. 1 is to partition a part of the hard drive with Msdos on the actual partion. It is possible. 2 you can also download boot images off the net of Ms dos and then run msdos from the A: Drive. The third one is to download a program called DOSBOX free to use and its a great emulator for Ms dos programs. It not fully functioning because it is just a emulator but its the first one to try if your to lazy to try the first 2. 2 days of research taught me such things ;)