Misc Research

Compatibility Application Layers

otherwindows

This table lists all documented application layers as extracted from the `Microsoft Application Compatibility Database` (Compatadmin.exe) and `sysmain.sdb` Some of the Shims are al…

Compatibility Application Layers

This table lists all documented application layers as extracted from the Microsoft Application Compatibility Database (Compatadmin.exe) and sysmain.sdb

Some of the Shims are also documented in MSDN - Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 Operating Systems - Windows XP and Earlier

Note

Some layers that such as ARM64CHPEOnlyNtdll and ARM64BarriersX87_SIMD_Atomic were omitted for ease of classification

Layers (Compatibility Modes) SHIMs / FLAGS Used
CloudFilesFullHydration CloudFilesFullHydration
DisableDXMaximizedWindowedMode DXMaximizedWindowedMode, DXGICompat
HighDpiAware HighDpiAware
TransformLegacyColorManaged TransformLegacyColorManagedWindows
Windows8RC WinRTTestShim, WinRTTestFlag
16BitColor ForceDisplayMode
256Color Force8BitColor, DisableThemes
640X480 Force640x480
8And16BitAggregateBlts 8And16BitAggregateBlts
8And16BitDXMaxWinMode 8And16BitDXMaxWinMode
8And16BitGDIRedraw 8And16BitGDIRedraw
8And16BitTimedPriSync 8And16BitTimedPriSync
AppRecorder AppRecorder
CentennialOffice VirtualRegistry
CentennialOfficex64 VirtualRegistry
CloudFilesFullHydrationOnOpen CloudFilesFullHydrationOnOpen
CloudFilesHydrationDisallowed CloudFilesHydrationDisallowed
Disable8And16BitD3D Disable8And16BitD3D
Disable8And16BitModes Disable8And16BitModes
DisableCicero DisableCicero
DisableFadeAnimations DisableFadeAnimations
DisableNXHideUI DisableNX
DisableNXShowUI DisableNX
DisableThemeMenus DisableThemeMenus
DisableThemes DisableThemes
DisableTransformLegacyColorManaged DisableTransformLegacyColorManagedWindows
DisableUserCallbackException AddProcessParametersFlags
DisguisePlaceholders DisguisePlaceholders
DPIUnaware DPIUnaware
DWM8And16BitMitigation DetectorDWM8And16Bit
DwmAutoParenting DwmAutoParenting
DXMaximizedWindowedMode DXMaximizedWindowedMode
EmulateSorting EmulateSorting
EmulateSortingServer2008 EmulateSortingServer2008
EmulateSortingVista EmulateSortingVista
EmulateSortingWindows61 EmulateSortingWindows61
EnableLegacyTls EnableLegacyTls
EnableNXShowUI
FDR FDR
FixDisplayChangeRefreshRate FixDisplayChangeRefreshRate
FontMigration FontMigration
ForceDxSetupSuccess ForceDxSetupSuccess
ForcePaddedBorder ForceLegacyResizeCM
GdiDPIScaling GdiDPIScaling
IgnoreAdobeKMPrintDriverMessageBox IgnoreMessageBox
Installer Installer
IntelLockFile IntelLockFile
International HandleDBCSUserName, HandleDBCSUserName2, IgnoreOemToChar, RedirectDBCSTempPath, CorrectFarEastFont
iTunesAutoplay iTunesAutoplay
LoadLibraryRedirect LoadLibraryRedirectFlag
LowLevelHooksTimeout LowLevelHooksTimeout
MsiAuto
NT4SP5 WinNT4SP5VersionLie, VirtualRegistry, DuplicateHandleFix, ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSorting, FailObsoleteShellAPIs,
NullEnvironment NullEnvironment
PerProcessSystemDPIForceOff PerProcessSystemDPIForceOff
PerProcessSystemDPIForceOn PerProcessSystemDPIForceOn
PreventBlockedShutdown WMQueryEndSessionToTerminateProcess
ProfilesSetup ProfilesEnvStrings, ProfilesGetFolderPath, ProfilesRegQueryValueEx
RedirectCHHlocaletoCHT RedirectCHHlocaletoCHT
RegisterAppRestart RegisterAppRestart
RunAsAdmin RunAsAdmin
RunAsHighest RunAsHighest
RunAsInvoker RunAsInvoker
Splwow64CompatLayer Splwow64Compat
VerifyVersionInfoLiteLayer VerifyVersionInfoLite
VirtualizeDeleteFileLayer VirtualizeDeleteFile
VistaRTM ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSortingVista, FailObsoleteShellAPIs, GlobalMemoryStatus2GB, HandleBadPtr, RedirectBDE,
VistaSP1 ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSortingVista, FailObsoleteShellAPIs, GlobalMemoryStatus2GB, HandleBadPtr, RedirectBDE,
VistaSP1VersionLie VistaSP1VersionLie
VistaSP2 ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSortingVista, FailObsoleteShellAPIs, GlobalMemoryStatus2GB, HandleBadPtr, RedirectBDE,
VistaSP2VersionLie VistaSP2VersionLie
Win2000 DirectXVersionLie, Win2000VersionLie, VirtualRegistry, DuplicateHandleFix, ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSorting,
Win2000Sp2 DirectXVersionLie, Win2000Sp2VersionLie, VirtualRegistry, DuplicateHandleFix, ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSorting,
Win2000Sp3 DirectXVersionLie, Win2000Sp3VersionLie, VirtualRegistry, DuplicateHandleFix, ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSorting,
Win7RTM ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSortingWindows61, FailObsoleteShellAPIs, GlobalMemoryStatus2GB, HandleBadPtr, RedirectBDE,
Win7RTMVersionLie Win7RTMVersionLie
Win81RTMVersionLie Win81RTMVersionLie
Win8RTM ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSortingWindows61, FailObsoleteShellAPIs, GlobalMemoryStatus2GB, HandleBadPtr, RedirectBDE,
Win8RTMVersionLie Win8RTMVersionLie
Win95 WinExecRaceConditionFix, Win95VersionLie, VirtualizeDesktopPainting, AddWritePermissionsToDeviceFiles,
Win98 WinExecRaceConditionFix, Win98VersionLie, VirtualizeDesktopPainting, AddWritePermissionsToDeviceFiles,
WinSrv03 Win2k3RTMVersionLie, VirtualRegistry, ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSorting, FailObsoleteShellAPIs, FaultTolerantHeap,
WinSrv03Sp1 Win2k3Sp1VersionLie, VirtualRegistry, ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSorting, FailObsoleteShellAPIs, FaultTolerantHeap,
WinSrv08R2RTM ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSortingWindows61, FailObsoleteShellAPIs, GlobalMemoryStatus2GB, HandleBadPtr,
WinSrv08SP1 ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSortingServer2008, FailObsoleteShellAPIs, GlobalMemoryStatus2GB, HandleBadPtr,
WinXP VirtualizeDesktopPainting, DirectXVersionLie, WinXPVersionLie, VirtualRegistry, ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSorting,
WinXPSp1 VirtualizeDesktopPainting, DirectXVersionLie, WinXPSp1VersionLie, VirtualRegistry, ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSorting,
WinXPSp2 CustomNCRender, VirtualizeDesktopPainting, DirectXVersionLie, WinXPSP2VersionLie, VirtualRegistry, ElevateCreateProcess,
WinXPSP2VersionLie WinXPSP2VersionLie
WinXPSp3 CustomNCRender, VirtualizeDesktopPainting, DirectXVersionLie, WinXPSP3VersionLie, VirtualRegistry, ElevateCreateProcess,
WinXPSP3VersionLie WinXPSP3VersionLie
ApiLogLayer LogShim
ApplicationMonitor DetectorDWM8And16Bit
Arm64WowOnAmd64 Arm64WowProcessLie
DW DWmigration
ElevateCreateProcess ElevateCreateProcess
FaultTolerantHeap FaultTolerantHeap
VistaSetup DeprecatedServiceShim, MakeShortcutRunAs, RedirectHKCUKeys, RedirectShortCut, WRPDllRegister, WRPMitigation
ShimEngineBasicTestLayer CorrectFilePaths
Layer_Force640x480x8 Force640x480x8
Layer_ForceDirectDrawEmulation ForceDirectDrawEmulation
Layer_Win95VersionLie Win95VersionLie
RunAsHighest_GW AdditiveRunAsHighest
VistaRTM_GW ElevateCreateProcess, FailObsoleteShellAPIs, GlobalMemoryStatus2GB, HandleBadPtr, RedirectBDE, RedirectMP3Codec,
WinXPSp2_GW DirectXVersionLie, WinXPSP2VersionLie, VirtualRegistry, ElevateCreateProcess, EmulateSorting, FailObsoleteShellAPIs,
DetectorsAppHealth DetectorMessageBox, DetectorShortRuntime, DetectorDeviceIoControl
DetectorsShimLog DetectorPrivLogMicrophone, DetectorPrivLogCamera
DetectorsVista DetectorDWM8And16Bit, DetectorException, DetectorShortRuntime
DetectorsWin7 DetectorDWM8And16Bit, DetectorException, DetectorShortRuntime
DetectorsWin8 DetectorException, DetectorShortRuntime
DetectorsXP DetectorAccessDenied, DetectorDWM8And16Bit, DetectorException, DetectorGlobalObject, DetectorPrivilegeCheck,
HandleRegExpandSzRegistryKeys HandleRegExpandSzRegistryKeys
IgnoreFreeLibrary IgnoreFreeLibrary
Installer Installer
WRPMitigation WRPMitigation