CompatAdmin
In a larger network environment there may be more applications that require the help of Windows XP application compatibility technologies. And because of the distributed nature of large networks, getting the correct bundle of compatibility fixes to users may be difficult and time-consuming. Microsoft has provided the Compatibility Administration Tool (CompatAdmin) to help administrators easily assemble and distribute packages of compatibility fixes.
CompatAdmin provides an interface for browsing and editing the Windows XP compatibility fix database (see Figure 6 below). The tool allows you to select any executable file and apply one or more of the numerous fixes available in the operating system. When you’ve determined all of the fixes needed to run the application, you can use CompatAdmin to create a package to deploy these fixes to other Windows XP–based computers.
F
igure 6. The CompatAdmin tool helps create packages of compatibility fixes for deployment to other computers.
CompatAdmin includes a search capability that locates “fixed” applications on your system or network drives, and analyzes them for the group of fixes being used. This helps simplify the process of creating a package of compatibility fixes to deploy. CompatAdmin contains a list of the applications that Microsoft has identified as needing one or more compatibility fixes to operate correctly on Windows XP.
CompatAdmin provides support for creating and maintaining custom compatibility databases. This is one of the most useful aspects of the tool. The current custom database is displayed in the window in the lower left hand corner of the main CompatAdmin view. When you start CompatAdmin the custom database area is opened with a new, empty database. You can use the options in the Database menu to add to or remove from your custom database any specific fixes or custom compatibility modes you might define as shown in Figure 7 below.
F
igure 7. CompatAdmin includes a wizard to assist in creating a custom compatibility mode.
The menu options may only be enabled if you have selected the custom database window and/or a valid entry. Once you have added all of the necessary compatibility fixes to your custom database, you can save the database and then distribute it to any Windows XP–based computer that requires the compatibility fixes.
| 