Policy
Detect compatibility issues for applications and drivers
Microsoft Windows
Policy overview
Key metadata and intent for this policy.
Supported OS tags: Windows10, Windows10RT, Windows11, Windows8, Windows81, WindowsRT, WindowsRT81, WindowsServer2012, WindowsServer2012R2, WindowsServer2016
This policy setting configures the Program Compatibility Assistant (PCA) to diagnose failures with application and driver compatibility. If you enable this policy setting, the PCA is configured to detect failures during application installation, failures during application runtime, and drivers blocked due to compatibility issues. When failures are detected, the PCA will provide options to run the application in a compatibility mode or get help online through a Microsoft website. If you disable this policy setting, the PCA does not detect compatibility issues for applications and drivers. If you do not configure this policy setting, the PCA is configured to detect failures during application installation, failures during application runtime, and drivers blocked due to compatibility issues. Note: This policy setting has no effect if the "Turn off Program Compatibility Assistant" policy setting is enabled. The Diagnostic Policy Service (DPS) and Program Compatibility Assistant Service must be running for the PCA to run. These services can be configured by using the Services snap-in to the Microsoft Management Console.
Registry values
How enabled and disabled states update the registry.
| Scope | Registry location | Type | Enabled value | Disabled value | Copy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer | Path Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AppCompat Value name DisablePcaUI | REG_DWORD | HKLM 1 | HKLM 0 |
Policy elements
Inputs and configuration options exposed by this policy.
This policy has no additional user input fields.