Turn off Program Compatibility Assistant

This policy controls the state of the Program Compatibility Assistant in the system.

The PCA monitors user initiated programs for known compatibility issues at run time. Whenever a potential issue with an application is detected, the PCA will prompt the user with pointers to recommended solutions. For more information on the various issue detection scenarios covered by PCA and the policies to configure them, refer to policies under System->Troubleshooting and Diagnostics->Application Compatibility Diagnostics.

The PCA is on by default.

If you enable this policy setting, the PCA will be turned off. This option is useful for system administrators who require faster performance and are aware of the compatibility of the applications they are using. Note: With the PCA turned off, the user will not be presented with solutions to known compatibility issues when running applications.

If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, the PCA will be turned on.

Note: The Diagnostic Policy Service (DPS) and Program Compatibility Assistant Service must be running for the PCA to execute. These services can be configured using the Services snap-in to the Microsoft Management Console.

Supported on: At least Windows Vista

Registry HiveHKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry PathSoftware\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AppCompat
Value NameDisablePCA
Value TypeREG_DWORD
Enabled Value1
Disabled Value0

appcompat.admx

Administrative Templates (Computers)

Administrative Templates (Users)