I have recently written a lot of articles about Microsoft’s new Operating System, Windows Vista. My articles have ranged from the different versions of Vista that Microsoft has developed and now offers, to the internal workings of Vista’s security. I have been fairly fortunate to have had a decent experience with Vista and its features until I recently ran into some compatibly issues with legacy applications. My definition of legacy applications is any application that was wrote and published prior to the Vista platform and SDK’s (Software Development Kits) being introduced to the developers of all of the applications currently being developed and marketed.
At this point in time, I can honestly say that Microsoft has been very forth coming on expressing their known issues with certain applications or games since the release of Vista a few months back. They have explained that the issues that legacy applications being installed can cause are issues such as primary functions not working in the installed application or in other applications that share the same core operating system files that may now have been over written by the legacy applications installations, they also state that legacy applications may also cause system instability.
One of the main Windows application compatibility issues is with the Microsoft UAC (User Access Control). The UAC has been causing issues with applications that do NOT have an installer program packaged with them. The new desktop security feature, UAC, basically simplifies desktop security so that the end user does not have to have a Security Degree to ensure that they are protected from malicious operating system attacks or exploits.
Windows Vista Application Compatibility, Or Lack There Of!
By design, and most practical usage, the UAC seems to be a good idea and is definitely the right step for Microsoft to take to move into the market for better desktop security. The UAC works as this, there is a 4 tiered system that will stop ALL system usage and make the end user allow or disallow an application or service that is attempting to install and use resources that MAY be vital to continue successfully running the operating system.
The 4 tiers are based on a color code that ranges from Grey, to Blue, to Orange and then to Red. The colors are to identify the severity or Microsoft’s lack of knowledge of the application being installed. If the application comes up Red, it does not necessarily mean it’s bad, it just means that the application may not be signed by Microsoft’s Software Signature, and is attempting to access some pretty important core system files.
The colored screens are basically letting the user know that something is about to change that may cause Windows to become unstable, corrupt or inoperable. This is only bad if the application being installed is NOT a desired application that the user wants. Now understand that when you first get your new Vista operating system, and you are installing all of your applications, you may see this warning a lot, but you will not have to KEEP approving this warning for any application more than once if you have accepted it with the current user already.
Certain programs use multiple executables to function, so you may have to accept the UAC multiple times for one application at first, but once all executables have been approved, you should not see the UAC for that application again. Now, were the problem lies with the UAC for applications that do NOT have an installer package, is that they are looked at by the Operating System as a NEW program every time they are executed. Which means the UAC may not allow them to run because of the lack of administrative or user privileges. Now if you are having issues running an application of this type, there seems to be a simple fix for it, you can simply Right-Click the executable and choose the option to Run as Administrator and the application should then run with full functionality.
I have yet to see many other workarounds, but if there are any, I would appreciate it if users would post a comment to assist myself and other users reading this blog. Microsoft had been VERY open about the applications that would not run on Windows XP SP2, and had published list of these applications for end users to be aware of, and to communicate to the software designers the issues so that the applications would then become SP2 compatible. Microsoft has not currently published any list of known apps that do not work, but they have come out with a Vista Application Compatibility Update. You can access this update at this location: MS KB Article 929427.
This update improves support in Windows Vista for the following applications:
| • | IBM Rescue and Recovery with Rapid Restore 3.00 |
| • | Rosetta Stone 2.1.3 |
| • | MS Encarta Standard 2007 |
| • | Family Feud Online |
| • | Crystal Player Professional 1.97 |
| • | Photoshop 7.0.1 |
| • | Total Commander 6.55 |
| • | SonyFeliCa Port (PaSoRi) 3.0.0.0 |
| • | Label Mighty 6 |
| • | AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5.0.47 |
| • | Lego Star Wars |
| • | HD Tach 3 |
| • | Adobe Photoshop Elements Version 4.0 |
| • | Digital Zenkoku Map Townpage Database 7 |
| • | Auslogics Disk 1.0.3 |
| • | EasyRecovery Professional Version 6.04 |
| • | Microsoft Money 2005 |
| • | Microsoft Money 2006 |
| • | SmartInstall 2.16 |
| • | Adobe Create
|
| • | Jv16 Power Tools |
| • | SG TCP Optimizer 2.0.3 |
| • | Cyber link Power Cinema 4.0 |
| • | Google desktop 4.2006.1008 |
| • | Roxio Easy Media Creator 7.5 |
| • | Premiere Elements 3 |
| • | Battlefield 2 Deluxe |
| • | Opera 9.02 |
| • | Palm Desktop 6.0 |
| • | Digital ImageSuite 2006 |
| • | Flight Simulator X |
| • | SmartSuite Millennium Edition – Freelance Graphics 9.8 |
| • | LimeWire 4.12 |
| • | Point 5.3 |
| • | BitVise Tunnelier 4.20 |
| • | Java Control Panel |
| • | ACDSee 8 |
| • | Azureus 1.0 |
| • | HD Tune 2.5.1 |
| • | BeatJam 2006 SE |
| • | ICHITARO 2006 |
| • | Adobe Photoshop CS 8.0 |
| • | Arcsoft Photo Impression 5 |
| • | J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 9 |
| • | AOL 9.0 – x64 |
| • | DevStudio 9.0 |
| • | The Weather Channel Desktop 5.0.1 |
| • | Absolute Poker Version 5.7 |
| • | BitLord 1.1.5.6 |
| • | RealPlayer 6.0.12.1700 |
| • | Speedfan 4.31 |
| • | Delphi 7 Professional |
| • | TweakNow PowerPack 2006 |
| • | Office 2003 Web Folders |
| • | Outlook 2003 |
| • | Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5 Plus |
| • | Virtual CD 8 |
| • | Fireworks MX2004 7.0.2.295 |
| • | Doranet Kids Nyugaku Jyunbi Taikenban |
| • | Doranet Shogaku Ichinensei Taikenban |
| • | Minna de TV Denwa Starter |
| • | Power Utility – Remote administration 3.1.0.0 |
| • | MotionDV STUDIO 5.8J for FUJITSU |
| • | OmniPass 1.0.0.1 |
| • | Minna de TV Phone Starter 2.1.0.1 |
| • | ColdFusion MX 7 Enterprise Edition |
| • | Age of Empires III |
| • | Age of Empires III : The WarChiefs Expansion Pack |
| • | Zoo Tycoon 2 |
| • | Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure Expansion Pack |
| • | Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species Expansion Pack |
| • | Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania Expansion Pack |
| • | Zoo Tycoon 2: Zookeeper Collection Expansion Pack |
| • | Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends |
| • | Fable: The Lost Chapters |
| • | Dungeon Siege II |
| • | Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna |
I will be putting together the most comprehensive list of the Works, and Doesn’t Work software on the market that I can come up with in my next article. If any readers can post any information on any application that they have had success / failure with for us that would be great. Also, if you can maybe go into depths as to why you are positive of the success / failure rate then that would be very helpful , so that maybe we can all try and put our heads together for possible workarounds to get you’re purchased applications running. Until then, take care, and please post if you have any questions.
Richard Correa, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, MCDBA
Senior Network Engineer / Lead Web Developer
DTIData DTI Networks
Office :: 727.345.9665 ext.206
rcorrea@dtidatarecovery.com
https://www.dtidatarecovery.com
http://www.dtinetworking.com
Thank Denis, we are compiling a list which will be posted as comments in this post, any insight from anybody that could help out another user is greatly appreciated!
In case you’re compiling a list, Bitvise Tunnelier has been fully compatible with Vista since version 4.22. Previous versions worked as well but weren’t UAC-friendly. Newer versions are.
I saw this on another website:
The March 2007 Windows Vista Application Compatibility Update is a package of software updates that address common application compatibility issues in Windows Vista. When you try to install and run certain legacy games or applications in Windows Vista, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms:
• The game, the application, or the firmware may not be installed correctly.
• The game, the application, or the firmware may cause system instability.
• The primary functions of the game, the application, or the firmware may not work correctly.
This update is cumulative and supersedes update 929427. In addition to the fixes that are contained in update 929427, this update improves support in Windows Vista for the following games, applications, and firmware:
• Lenovo Presentation Director 1.0.0.1
• ACDSee 8
• Trend Micro Internet Security 2006 (PC-cillin) 14.0 – 14.59
• Trend Micro Internet Security 2007 (PC-cillin) 15.0 – 15.19
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Administration Tools Pack
• RealNetworks RealPlayer 6.0.12
• AOL Safety and Security Center 2.5.4.1
• Toshiba Tecra M7 1.70
Thanks for the info everyone! We will continue to post everything we can about Vista.
This was in PC Magazine about AMD:
Why isn’t there an easy-to-find Vista driver for C&Q features? Simple—it’s built in! Windows Vista contains full support for C&Q from the onset, and it even gives you a bit of control over how it runs the CPU.
Go to Control Panel, click System, and click Power Options. Pick a plan, any plan, and click Change Plan Settings—for instance, beneath High Performance, click the blue text. The first page you see shows you how the computer will behave when plugged in and when on battery power; click Change Advanced Power Settings. A dialog box will appear.
Scroll down in the list box until you see Processor Power Management, and click the little + next to it. Now, you can set the minimum and maximum power states for the CPU while on battery, and while plugged in. You set a range, in percentage of the CPU’s maximum power, for the processor to adhere to. For instance, in Power Saver mode you might set the minimums to 1 percent and max to 50 percent to save battery life; in High Performance mode you might force the CPU to run at 100 percent across the board for pure gaming muscle. The operating system will throttle the CPU as needed, staying between the power points you specify.—
Great post, I found this list to be very useful the numbers are kb article numbers:
925255 – Power consumption increases when you run a WPF-based program that runs an animation in Windows Vista
925528 – [DOWNLOAD] – Reliability update for the USB stack in Windows Vista
927084 – Error message when you try to watch live TV in Windows Media Center on a Windows Vista-based computer: “Restricted Content – Display Driver”
927341 – The Manage Discs feature in Windows Media Center stops responding after you resume Windows Vista from sleep or hibernation
927546 – You see only four available wireless network connections when you use a USB-based wireless network adapter in Windows XP or in Windows Vista
928089 – [DOWNLOAD] – The computer may respond very slowly as the Phishing Filter evaluates Web page contents in Internet Explorer 7
928135 – A Windows Vista-based computer stops responding when you resume the computer from hibernation
928188 – Ink programs may not work correctly on a digitizer in Windows Vista
928253 – SATA optical drives are not available after you start a Windows Vista-based computer
929011 – Windows Media Center does not correctly configure a combo TV tuner that supports both ATSC and NTSC signals on a Windows Vista-based computer
929191 – IBM and Lenovo computers may take longer to start Windows Vista than computers from other manufacturers
929427 – [DOWNLOAD] – The Windows Vista Application Compatibility Update
929451 – A client computer that is running Windows Vista registers an old IP address when the GUID of a network adapter changes
929478 – After you use the Safely Remove Hardware option to remove a built-in optical drive from a portable Windows Vista-based computer, you may be unable to reconnect the drive
929550 – When you connect a PCI ExpressCard device to a portable Windows Vista-based computer, the device may not work correctly
929577 – A Bluetooth device may no longer work correctly when you wake a Windows Vista-based computer from sleep
929615 – [DOWNLOAD] – You may not receive audio in the desired language when you use Windows Media Center to view television in Windows Vista
929685 – [DOWNLOAD] – A high definition audio device may no longer work after you resume Windows Vista from sleep or from hibernation and then restart the computer
929734 – You may experience problems after you resume a Windows Vista-based computer from sleep or from hibernation
929735 – [DOWNLOAD] – You may not find the file that you want when you use Advanced Search to search by date and you use a non-Gregorian calendar format in Windows Vista
929761 – [DOWNLOAD] – When you run Wusa.exe together with the /quiet option to try to install certain software packages on a Windows Vista-based computer, the installation fails
929762 – [DOWNLOAD] – You receive a Stop 0x9F error when you wake a Windows Vista-based computer that is connected to an IEEE 1394-based device
929763 – [DOWNLOAD] – Version 5.00 of the Mongolian Baiti font may be displayed incorrectly in Windows Vista
929777 – [DOWNLOAD] – Error message when you try to install Windows Vista on a computer that uses more than 3 GB of RAM: “STOP 0x0000000A”
929909 – A Windows Vista-based computer that uses a Mobile Intel 945GM Express Chipset may occasionally not wake from sleep
929913 – An error is logged in the Setuperr.log file when you run the “sysprep –reseal” command on a Windows Vista-based computer
930163 – [DOWNLOAD] – In Windows Vista, you cannot access any resources on a remote VPN server after you switch a network connection from one network adapter to another network adapter and then dial a VPN connection
930193 – Error message when you run the Sysprep command on a Windows Vista-based computer: “A fatal error occurred”
930194 – A computer uses an SiI PATA chip does not recognize an attached optical drive as a drive that supports recording after you install Windows Vista
930261 – [DOWNLOAD] – You randomly receive a “Stop 0xA” error in Storport.sys when you start Windows Vista
930311 – Occasional error message on a portable Windows Vista-based computer that wakes from sleep to perform network-related tasks: “STOP 0x0000007E”
930495 – An IEEE 1394 device is no longer available when you wake a Windows Vista-based computer from sleep or after you reconnect the device
930517 – Message when a device on a Windows Vista-based computer uses a network bridge to access the network: “Connected with limited access”
930568 – Error message when you try to put a Windows Vista-based computer to sleep or into hibernation: “STOP 0x000000FE BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER”
930570 – Error message in the Usbhub.sys process when you wake a Windows Vista-based computer from sleep or from hibernation: “STOP 0x00000044”
930819 – Windows Image Acquisition imaging software may stop responding in Windows Vista
930857 – [DOWNLOAD] – An update is available for Windows Error Reporting in Windows Vista to make sure that problem reports are sent only after you have given your permission
930883 – Programs that play audio stop working and duplicate entries appear in the Default Format audio format list in Windows Vista
930955 – [DOWNLOAD] – Moveuser.exe is incompatible with Windows Vista and is replaced by the new Win32_UserProfile WMI functionality
930917 – An optical disc appears to be blank after you format the disc by using the Live File System component on a Windows Vista-based computer
930979 – You may receive a “Stop 0x0000007E” error message after you enable the BitLocker Drive Encryption feature in Windows Vista
931174 – [DOWNLOAD] – Update for the Windows Vista Customer Experience Improvement Program
931369 – The Windows Vista installation process may take several hours on a system that uses an ATI SB600 Series chipset
931573 – [NEW] – [DOWNLOAD] – You may be prompted to activate Windows Vista on a computer on which Windows Vista activation was not previously required
931671 – Error message when you put a Windows Vista-based computer to sleep while a PPP connection is active: “STOP 0x0000009F”
931674 – [NEW] – You may be unable to use a WSD-based scanner driver to transfer scanned data in Windows Vista
931675 – Error message when you perform a scan by using a WSD-based scanner driver in Windows Vista: “A problem prevented Windows from saving the settings”
931770 – The copy process may stop responding when you try to copy files from a server on a network to a Windows Vista-based computer
931812 – [NEW] – On a Windows Vista-based computer, the Sony VAIO Camera Capture Utility (VCCU) may not work correctly until you restart it
931936 – Incorrect recording speeds are displayed in the “Recording speed” list in the “Burn to Disc” dialog box when you burn a DVD on a Windows Vista-based computer
931969 – The Microsoft Software License Terms appear in the incorrect language when you try to view them in a program in Windows Vista
932030 – Windows Vista incorrectly detects the miniport edge of PassThru as a WLAN adapter when you use the PassThru Intermediate Driver from the Windows Driver Kit
932079 – Power consumption may be slightly more than expected on a portable Windows Vista-based computer that uses a SATA hard disk that does not support Host-Initiated Link Power Management
932094 – Error message when you try to play a movie file that has an .mov extension by using QuickTime 7 in Windows Vista: “STOP 0x1A MEMORY_MANAGEMENT”
932142 – [NEW] – You cannot install some programs after you restore Windows Vista by using a “Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore Image”
932143 – A hotfix is available for Microsoft Windows Services for UNIX and Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications that addresses the change to daylight saving time in 2007
932246 – [DOWNLOAD] – March 2007 Windows Vista Application Compatibility Update
932404 – A folder does not open when you click the folder in the All Programs list in Windows Vista
932406 – The Windows desktop may stop updating correctly after a Windows Vista-based computer has been running for a long time
932590 – FIX: Windows-based applications that use the TZ environment variable may not work as expected because of changes to DST
932539 – The screen may go blank when you try to upgrade the video driver on a Windows Vista-based computer
932626 – Various problems may occur after you disconnect a PCMCIA storage device when a Windows Vista-based computer is asleep
932634 – [DOWNLOAD] – Some elements of the user interface in some preinstalled Swedish versions of Windows Vista contain English text, text that is truncated, or linguistic errors
932635 – [DOWNLOAD] – Some elements of the user interface in some preinstalled Norwegian versions of Windows Vista contain English text, text that is truncated, or linguistic errors
932636 – [DOWNLOAD] – Certain elements of the user interface in some preinstalled Danish versions of Windows Vista contain English text, text that is truncated, or linguistic errors
932649 – [DOWNLOAD] – You may experience poor video quality when you use interlaced mode on a Windows Vista-based computer
932652 – [NEW] – A Windows SideShow-compatible device or the related Gadgets do not work reliably in Windows Vista
932753 – When you resize the Windows Media Center window in Windows Vista, video playback may stop
932988 – Files from a Canon EOD 1D or 1DS camera may be corrupted after you use Windows Photo Gallery or Windows Explorer to edit the file metadata in Windows Vista
933242 – Windows ReadyDrive does not work in Windows Vista if the first partition of a hybrid hard disk drive has less than 32 MB of free space
933245 – A handle leak in Lsm.exe occurs when you play an audio file in Windows Media Player 11 in Windows Vista
933433 – [NEW] – Recording quality is poor when you use a USB microphone on a Windows Vista-based computer that has 4 GB of RAM or more
933468 – [NEW] – You cannot access SMB shares on a corporate network through a Remote Access Service (RAS) connection from a computer that is running Windows Vista
933607 – [NEW] – UMDF User-mode drivers that use the Windows SideShow class extension return errors when you process commands asynchronously
933620 – The operating system stops unexpectedly and you receive a Stop error message after you start the Sony VAIO Camera Capture Utility on a Sony VAIO UX Series Micro PC that is running Windows Vista
933778 – [NEW] – AA program that uses Windows HotStart does not start as quickly as expected after a Windows Vista-based computer wakes up from sleep
933847 – [NEW] – Availability of the Windows Vista Secure Digital (SD) hotfix rollup package
933872 – [NEW] – The default gateway setting is lost when you wake a Windows Vista-based computer from sleep
934111 – [NEW] – An update is available for Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications in Windows Vista that addresses daylight saving time changes in 2007