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Running Applications in Compatibility Mode

Some older applications won't run or run poorly on Windows Vista and for these there is a solution called Compatibility Mode. It should be noted that Microsoft does not recommend Compatibility Mode for anti-virus applications, disk utilities, backup utilities or system applications¹ - obviously such applications interact with the system at a deep level and as such security and stability issues could result. Note, however, that most anti-virus applications are now Vista compatible².

But lets say you have a favorite older application you'd like to run on Vista, Compatibility Mode allows you to tell Vista to emulate a previous operating system (such as Windows XP, Windows 98) for that particular application only. Voila! Your application runs.

Here's how it's done:
1 right-click on the .exe file for the application you want to install
2 click on 'Properties'
3 select the 'Compatibility' tab
4 place a check mark in the box 'Run this program in compatibility mode for:'
5 click to open the drop-down menu
6 select the operating system you want to emulate
7 optionally select items from the 'Settings' frame to alter visual properties for the application
8 optionally select 'Run this program as an administrator' (some apps require elevated privileges)
9 click Apply, OK

Alternately you can use the Program Compatibility Wizard³. To access the wizard:
1 click on the Windows Start Menu button
2 select 'Control Panel'
3 select 'Control Panel Home' in the left-hand frame
4 in the main window click on 'Programs'
5 under 'Programs and Features' click on 'Use an older program with this version of Windows'
6 follow the Program Compatibility Wizard

References:
1 Program Compatibility Mode
2 Apps Certified for Windows Vista , Windows Vista Compatability List
3 Program Compatibility Wizard