Find Out Which PC Games Are Vista Compatible

Do you know that for games, there is no other PC operating system that offers as great a variety as an operating system released by Microsoft? Therefore Windows Vista from Microsoft is no exception. May be you will find some compatibility problems when operating games using Windows Vista despite promises by Microsoft for complete backward compatibility. Though you will not find any list of Windows Vista compatible games, there are ways to check if a specific game in which you are interested is compatible with Windows Vista and results to better PC Health.

Officially Compatible

Always remember that Microsoft Windows Vista is backward compatible with all other Microsoft Windows systems to Windows 95. If you are looking for a game that's likely to run flawlessly on Windows Vista, try to look for the "Certified for Windows Vista" logo or the "Works with Windows Vista logo." Both of them are official designations and guaranteed to work with Windows Vista. You will find that the certified logo denotes a product that was both designed and tested for Windows Vista, while the Works With logo identifies products that are Windows Vista compatible. You will see that not all games are put through these tests, so some without the logos will still work on Windows Vista.

Updates

Remember that you should always keep your drivers up to date when you are using Windows Vista. All those compatibility problems with games in Windows Vista can be fixed by installing the latest drivers or by applying the most current software patches. The very first step that you should take in dealing with any incompatibility problem is to see if you are up to date.

Workarounds

If you want get your games to work in Windows Vista, you may have to perform a few workarounds when running them. You will find that some issues with games will be unable to run in Windows Vista stem from the operation of Windows Vista's User Account Control (UAC) safety measure. If you need to grant permission for running software can sometimes pop up when a game is loading or operating. This can cause the game to malfunction while waiting for you to give it a permission to continue. By turning off UAC can solve this problem, but it will leave you without the safety measure in place.

If you find out that the game was designed and ran successfully in earlier Windows versions, then by running the file in compatibility mode solves many of the game's problems with Windows Vista. The compatibility mode will run the file as though it is being operated on an earlier version of Windows, back to Windows 95. It can also allow you to choose to run the game in only 256 colors or in 640 by 480 screen resolution, both requirements in earlier game designs. Remember that you can open the compatibility mode through the file properties settings by choosing the compatibility tab.

If your games are made for DOS operating systems, you will need to get a DOS emulator such as DOSBox. DOSBox emulator is freely available for download from their website listed in the reference section. It has been tested on Windows Vista therefore it will not affect your PC Health.