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Does old software refuse to work in XP?

Compatibility has always been one of the primary goals of Windows developers.

In Windows XP, developers invested a great deal of time to ensure that older software works in this new operating system. One of the biggest challenges was to make older games work in Windows XP. The result of testing and debugging thousands of games was a piece of software called the Program Compatibility Wizard. This wizard can help you run older software.

If certain applications refuse to work, you have two options. You can run the wizard by going to Start | Accessories and selecting Program Compatibility Wizard. The wizard will guide you through several settings, which might help you run the application. Experienced users can bypass the wizard altogether and, instead, right-click the application's executable file and access the Compatibility tab in the Properties dialog box.

The idea behind the compatibility mode is essentially to deceive the application. The number-one compatibility issue is the version checking performed by the application. Some applications check the version of the operating system. If the version is different than Windows 95, for example, they refuse to work. The compatibility mode simply lies to the applications by indicating that the underlying operating system is Windows 95.