Solved Compatibility settings for 64 bit applications

[a0x]

Hello,
Is there any way to "Disable desktop composition" for 64 bit application using compatibility settings? All 64 bit exe files in my system have grayed out options in compatibility settings tab.

Some details:
I play World of Warcraft. I used to play 32 bit version and have "Disable desktop composition" ticked in compatibility settings tab. Now I'm switching to 64 bit version, but this option is not active, just unclickable for 64 bit exe. People on WoW forums say that it works for them, so I guess there must be something wrong with my system.

I'm using Windows 7 Professional x64 (fully updated).

I managed to change that setting with regedit, but it does not work anyway.

Thanks for help!

 

[Brink]

Hello a0x, and welcome to Seven Forums.

I'm not sure how this will work with a 64-bit app, but you could double check using OPTION THREE in the tutorial below for the registry to see if it was set the same way.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/316-compatibility-mode.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[a0x]

I already tried option three, without success. I can see that "Disable desktop composition" is selected under grayness when I use regedit to change it, but it won't get disabled when I start the application.

 

[Brink]

That's what I was afraid of. Normally 64-bit apps cannot have their compatibility modes changed. I think the WoW forum may have mistaken what you said and thought 32-bit app in 64-bit OS instead.


Other than using the 32-bit version, have you tried manually disabling desktop composition using either option below before playing the 64-bit version to see how that works?

• Turn off in Visual Effects.
• Disable "Desktop Window Manager Session Manager" service, and enable when finished with game.
• Switch to the "Windows Classic" theme

 

[a0x]

Yep, there was even a note in tutorial you linked for me saying it won't work. But they (WoW forum) seem to be so sure that it works, someone even pasted a screenshot (http://oi48.tinypic.com/2mhhmq1.jpg) so I kept on thinking about it.

Anyway, to be 100% sure I tried also on Windows 7 Starter and on fresh Win 7 Ultimate trial install on VM and it's always grayed out.

 

[Brink]

That's odd it works for them. It's always been grayed out for me for 64-bit apps.

 

[a0x]

It's always been grayed out for me for 64-bit apps.

Ok, that's what I needed. Thanks for help Brink

 

[Brink]

You're welcome.

 

[jayarte]

It has worked for me with Win 7 64 bit for other games (Aion, Rift, GW2), but I can't get it to work for WoW (greyed out options like OP).

Ok, after a bit more fiddling around, I realised that if I selected properties, advanced in the launcher exe it does work. This can be found in users/public/games/worldofwarcraft, World of Warcraft launcher is what you want. Good luck.

 

[Franpa]

So I searched a bit and there is this 4th method that you can use (I mention it at the end of this post), however it seems to be annoyingly hard to set up under a UAC enabled account because it requires administrator privileges (you can't automate running the program as an administrator via compatibility settings for BAT files, instead you're required to right-click the BAT file and choose the "Run as Administrator" option every time, joy!).

There is another problem with this, running the BAT file as an administrator will set the "Start In" parameter to point to "C:\Windows\System32\" and not the folder the BAT file resides in... because Microsoft likes being a bitch. So you'll end up with

C:\Windows\system32>start Dolphin.exe
The system cannot find the file Dolphin.exe.

C:\Windows\system32>net stop "UxSms"
The Desktop Window Manager Session Manager service is stopping.
The Desktop Window Manager Session Manager service was stopped successfully.


C:\Windows\system32>pause
Press any key to continue . . .

Instead of

L:\Emulators\Gamecube>start Dolphin.exe

L:\Emulators\Gamecube>net stop "UxSms"
System error 5 has occurred.

Access is denied.


L:\Emulators\Gamecube>pause
Press any key to continue . . .

Here is the 4th method you can use: Create a bat file with this (Replace the exe/path with what you desire).

start dolphin.exe /wait
net stop "UxSms"
pause
net start "UxSms"

 

[Markus1]

I realize this is a very old thread, but I thought I'd throw this in for anyone else looking. I just had this issue with a 64 bit program, and compatibility settings are greyed out on Windows 7. BUT! If you click the button at the bottom of the Compatibility tab that says "Change settings for all users" it will open "Compatibility For All Users" window that will have compatibility mode NOT greyed out and you will be able to change it.

I had two separate programs trying to install under different versions of windows. One under XP and the other Vista. No idea why it was happening since I never need to change compatibility settings.

 

[jayarte]

Thanks for the tip, Markus.