Visual Studio 2012 Install Fails: Program Compatibility Mode is on

Question

I'm trying to install Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows Desktop and every time I run the installer I get this error:

"Windows Program Compatibility mode is on. Turn it off and then try setup again."

I checked the file properties and compatibility mode was off. Googling found that changing the name to "vs_premium.exe" or "vs_ultimate.exe" or changing the registry keys might help, but the name changes had no effect, and there were no registry keys to delete. I have restarted my machine several times to no avail.

Changing to Visual Studio 2013 is not an option for me, as my work computer has Visual Studio 2012 on it which they will not update to 2013, and I need to work on my project on both computers.

The computer I am using has a Windows 8.1 HP Pavilion g6. I have installed Visual Studio 2013 for Windows Desktop, Web, and Windows, as well as the 30-day trial for Professional (which has recently expired). I have also installed Visual Studio 2012 for Windows Phone but I have not used it yet.

Answer 1

Previous posts are correct in that compatibility mode appears to be based entirely on file names. There is a simple method for determining precisely which name Windows expects:

Right-click the file, select Properties and navigate to the Details tab. There should be an entry labelled "Original filename". Simply rename the file accordingly and it should run happily.

Screenshot:

Answer 2

If you downloaded Visual Studio 2012 and Visual Studio 2013 at the same time and one was renamed with a "(0)" suffix (just as I did) then change the installer to the original name will probably fix it, because "somehow compatibility checking is based on file naming"

Answer 3

I just have to Rename the setup name. I rename the setup file to vs_ultimate and it worked.

Answer 4

In case you mounted it, first extract the content before you install. it worked for me.

Had the same issue installing vs_ultimate on Windows 10, It tells me to turn compatibility mode off which I didn't know to do. After reading all the solutions above without success, I was able to solve it on my own.

I mounted the .iso before installing which was giving me problem, but later as I extracted it into a desktop folder, it installed fine.

Answer 5

I couldn't find a solution, but I could find a workaround. I downloaded the offline installer (ISO) and ran that instead. It's not a solution, but it should work in this situation.

Answer 6

I ran into this problem and the solution for me was to rename the file back to its original name. I had downloaded it as "vs2012sdk_full.exe" but the original name was "vssdk_full.exe". When I ran it as "vs2012sdk_full.exe" I got the compatibility mode error. Once I renamed it back to the original "vssdk_full.exe" it worked.

Answer 7

1. Open The Run (Win+R) And type Services.msc.
   Found Program Compatibility Assistant Service Then Disable Service and Stop it.

2. Open the Run (Win+R) And Type Gpedit.msc.
   User configuration-->Administrative Templates-->Windows Components-->Application Compatibility
   And check Enable button then restart system.

Answer 8

Run as administrator. And for my 2013 installer I renamed it to be vs_professional.exe

And it worked.

Answer 9

In a round about way I discovered the problem on my system. Check the properties of the installer. Mine was blocked because it was downloaded from another system. Click unblock. Voila! If you can't find the location of the installer, run it again. When it fails, leave it running. Open task manager, right click the installer, then open file location. This will take you to the folder containing your installer.

Answer 10

mount the ISO file and run the setup as a from the disk.

Answer 11

I had the same issue, my solution was to run it in administrator mode and it seemed to work just fine.

Answer 12

Run as Administrator worked for me.

Answer 13

I had the same problem. I had run the installer from an ISO, reading from the DVD image.

The solution was to simply take the ISO and uncompress it as a .RAR into some folder, and everything worked.

Answer 14

This is the solution:

• Right Click on Visual Studio Setup Icon

• Select Properties

• Open Compatibility Tab

• Check Run This Program In Compatibility Mode
• Select Your Windows Version (ex:Windows 8)
• Finally Click OK And Install Your Program Again