Solved removing program compatibility assistant changes?

[ellentk]

[SIZE=+1]Microsoft's Program Compatibility Assistant popped up and made changes to my system after a photoshop cs6 crash. Since the PCA, according to MS, is designed to make older programs compatible to MS's newer O/S's, and since my version of photoshop was created long after win7, am I correct in concluding that PCA's changes to my system were unnecessary?[/SIZE]

If I am correct, I want to remove any and all changes PCA made. From what I've read online, it seems that [SIZE=+1]all changes are only made to the following registry key and that no other microsoft program or service changes or adds values to this key?

HKLM/software/microsoft/windows nt/current version/AppCompatFlags

If that's so, is it safe to delete the value for photoshop in this subkey:
[/SIZE][SIZE=+1]HKLM/software/microsoft/windows nt/current version/AppCompatFlags/Layers

And do I need to delete the value for photoshop in this key, which seems to be for styli and pens, which I may get sometime in the future and since it's so specific doesn't seem as if it would interfere with using photoshop with a mouse:

[/SIZE][SIZE=+1]HKLM/software/microsoft/windows nt/current version/AppCompatFlags/PenService

Thanks for any help.
[/SIZE]

 

[Brink]

Hello Ellen,

Yes, you could safely delete those values in that key to no longer have them run in compatibility mode. Using OPTION THREE in the tutorial below as a guide, there's also the same location in HKCU that may contain these values.

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

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[ellentk]

Thanks, Shawn. Got 'em all.

Ellen

 

[Brink]

Glad to hear it. You're most welcome.

 

[DarkStar GT]

I have a similar issue here. A 64-bit process was whacked by a plug-in - the Exception Code was c000041d. The Program Compatibiliy Assistant jumped in and said it had made some changes for compatibility. Oddly, if I look at Properties / Compatibility tab for the .exe nothing is set.

I would like to get my system back to the way it was.

I now have these three entries in the Registry:

Key Name:
          HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
          \AppCompatFlags\Compatibility Assistant\Persisted
Class Name:        <NO CLASS>
Last Write Time:   14/10/2015 - 14:26
...
Value 195
  Name:            C:\Program Files (x86)\REAPER\Plugins\reaper_host64.exe
  Type:            REG_DWORD
  Data:            0x200
// there is no entry in ...\AppCompatFlags\\Layers

Key Name:
          HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-1109456498-3726155731-2682900157-1003\Software\Microsoft
          \Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Compatibility Assistant\Persisted
Class Name:        <NO CLASS>
Last Write Time:   14/10/2015 - 14:26
...
Value 195
  Name:            C:\Program Files (x86)\REAPER\Plugins\reaper_host64.exe
  Type:            REG_DWORD
  Data:            0x200
// there is no entry in ...\AppCompatFlags\\Layers

Key Name:
          HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
          \AppCompatFlags\Layers
Class Name:        <NO CLASS>
Last Write Time:   14/10/2015 - 14:26
...
Value 2
  Name:            C:\Program Files (x86)\REAPER\Plugins\reaper_host64.exe
  Type:            REG_SZ
  Data:            DISABLEUSERCALLBACKEXCEPTION

//  there is no branch here for ...\Compatibility Assistant\Persisted

Note that the first two are in the "Persisted" sub-branch. The .exe is also mentioned in several OpenWithLists but they all look OK.

Can I go ahead and just remove those 3 entries safely, using Option 3, point 5 here?
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/316-compatibility-mode.html
Is there anything-else to check?

 

[Brink]

Hello DarkStar,

Deleting the contents of the Layers key will remove any compatibility modes for them.

However, removing compatibility may have the program not work again.

 

[DarkStar GT]

Hello Brink and thank you for your reply.

I have only one entry in a "layers" key, the other two are in "Persisted" keys.

The program has been working fine for months - it was, I believe, the recent crash that triggered the Compatibility Assistant. You'll see that the data is "DISABLEUSERCALLBACKEXCEPTION" which I would think means "do not report exception errors"

Perhaps, before removing the keys, I'll try just renaming the program in those three entries to make sure that it still works. Does that sound like a plan?

-----------------------
I did find the error code mentioned here:
Managing the Windows 7 Program Compatibility Assistant (PCA) - The App Compat Guy - Site Home - MSDN Blogs
and
c# - How do i fix Win7 app compatibility shim with DISABLEUSERCALLBACKEXCEPTION - Stack Overflow

 

[Brink]

Interesting. I would also export the registry key as a backup before deleting it as well. This way you could easily merge it if needed afterwards.