Troubleshooting User Account Control Compatibility Evaluator (UACCE) Issues

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Vista

The User Account Control (UAC) functionality, formerly known as Limited User Accounts (LUA), might introduce compatibility issues for some applications. This section provides an overview of the specific features that the User Account Control Compatibility Evaluator (UACCE) can test for and identify. It also provides the recommended ways to address the issues.

Fixing the Application

Fixing the application by changing the code itself is most often the recommended way to address a compatibility issue that UACCE uncovers. Although this option might involve higher initial costs or additional development time to deploy, this fix has the advantage of permanently solving the problem, and it results in no long-term maintenance or ongoing operational costs. After you change the code to eliminate the issue, all users will be able to use the application without experiencing the issue. However, if you do not have access to the code, or if your time and resources do not permit taking advantage of this option, an alternative remedy is to deploy a work round.

Deploying a Workaround

A workaround involves applying alternative registry settings to address a compatibility issue. Although deploying a workaround might seem quicker and easier than rewriting the code, this option does involve some long-term maintenance requirements. For example, you must ensure that all new users have the correct set of features disabled on their workstations or they will experience issues with the application. A workaround is also a less-preferable option because it might result in a reduction in security for that particular issue. However, a workaround might still be more preferable than going without the overall security enhancement that you receive by deploying the new version of the Windows® operating system. You might want to consider changing registry settings as a good short-term solution, while the long-term solution of changing the application code is still in development.

In This Section

Topic name

Description

Applications with Anti-Debugging Checks May Alter Behavior or Fail to Run

Includes detailed information about the known issues between UACCE and application anti-debugging checks.

Evaluating Managed Applications on Windows 2000

Includes detailed information about evaluating managed applications on computers that are running the Windows 2000 operating system.

See Also

Concepts

Troubleshooting ACT
User Account Control Compatibility Evaluator (UACCE) Technical Reference
Phase 1: Collecting Your Compatibility Data