Enabling Application Compatibility-Mode in Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 

With Sierra Windows games, if your screen isn't set to 256 colors, you'll get an error message or the game might have odd behavior. Windows XP has a "Compatibility" tab of the properties page for applications, with a "Run in 256 colors" option, so you can run just that one game in 256 colors, without changing the whole system to 256 colors.

Compatibility mode provides an environment for running programs that more closely reflects the behavior of either Microsoft Windows 95 or Microsoft Windows NT 4.0. These modes resolve several of the most common issues that prohibit older programs from working correctly with Windows 2000. Programs that experience issues after migration may benefit from being started in one of these compatibility environments.

Unfortunately, Windows 2000 did not come with this feature, but was added via the service packs. If Your Windows 2K does not have the service packs installed, the compatibility utility needs to be installed in Win2k before you can us it. Extract "Apcompat.exe" from the support.cab file in the support\tools folder on the Windows 2000 CD. This is the Windows 2000 application compatibility tool. Launch it and tell it to run your game for Win 95 or 98/ME.

The Compatibility-mode technology is currently used by Windows 2000 to ensure built-in compatibility for many popular programs. With Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 (SP2), administrators can manually enable and use this technology to provide solutions for their own programs. Only administrators can enable this technology for users.

How to Enable Compatibility Mode Properties

If your Windows 2000 has the service packs installed but the compatibility tab does not appear (the Compatibility-mode technology does not appear by default) log on as Administrator and run (Start > Run... and type or paste this in the Run box):

regsvr32 %WINDIR%\AppPatch\slayerui.dll

and reboot.

NOTE: XP has this tab for both EXEs and short cuts, while with 2K it only shows up on shortcuts.

How to Use Compatibility Mode Properties

Administrators can use a program shortcut to set the compatibility mode for a target program. This requires that the Compatibility-mode properties be correctly installed and registered on the computer by using the previous steps. To enable Compatibility mode by using a program shortcut: 

Log on as Administrator.

Right-click the shortcut, and then click Properties.

Click the Compatibility tab. This tab appears only if the Compatibility-mode interface has been properly enabled on the computer.

Click to select the Run in Compatibility Mode check box to enable Compatibility-mode support for the program.

Click either Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 compatibility mode in the drop-down box.

Click OK to save the changes.

Double-click the shortcut to run the program.

NOTE: Be careful if you use Compatibility mode to bypass version warnings in Setup or installation programs. Some programs are designed for a specific operating system and intentionally prohibit use on future versions. These are most often system-level programs that run at a very low level and have the potential to cause serious problems if installed. 

How to Disable Compatibility Mode

Because you enable Compatibility mode independent of the Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 installation process, uninstalling Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 does not remove Compatibility mode. To uninstall Compatibility mode: 

Log on as Administrator.

Click Start, and then click Run.

In the Open box, type the following command, and then click OK:

regsvr32 /u %systemroot%\apppatch\slayerui.dll 

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