Are you having issues with Windows 8, here’s a few suggestions for Things to do when Win 8 wont run your apps. Firstly W8 is more forgiving with relation to app compatibility than previous versions of Windows, but some just will not work with it. Thankfully, you don’t always have to accept defeat. Although there is no panacea that guarantees compatibility, try a few tricks to improve your odds of getting a stubborn application to run in W8.
1: Create a virtual machine
I will go ahead and get the last resort step out of the way up front. Windows 8 includes its own copy of Hyper-V. If you can’t get an application to function in Windows 8, you can enable Hyper-V and create a virtual machine running a legacy version of Windows as a way of running the application. You can find more about this here
2: Turn off User Account Control
I haven’t experienced any User Account Control (UAC)-related compatibility problems in Windows 8 yet, but I have run into problems in Windows 7. When I first adopted Windows 7, there was a particular dictation application that would not work until I disabled UAC. I have read posts on the Internet from people who have had similar experiences in Windows 8, where disabling UAC resolved a compatibility issue. again more on how to this here.
3: Install .NET Framework 3.5
Windows 8 installs version 4.5 of the .NET Framework by default. However, older apps may require an earlier version of the .NET Framework. If you receive a .NET Framework-related error, you can go into the Control Panel, click on Programs, and choose the option to turn a Windows feature on or off. Windows will display a list of the various components you can enable or disable. One of the items on the list is .NET Framework 3.5, which also includes .NET 3.0 and 2.0. Installing this component will likely correct the issue that you are experiencing.
4: Check for application patches
Contact the application vendor and find out if it has a Windows 8 patch available. Sometimes, a patch is all you need. Go to the manufacturers website and check their update page.
5: Upgrade to the next version
Although I might have been able to resolve the problem using other measures, I ultimately decided to upgrade to the newest version of the application. This is likely to be certified to work with W8, and it may also offer more features.
6: Upgrade your hardware drivers
When an app you use every day wouldn’t run it may not be an application issue as such but possibly related to hardware driver issues so do check to make sure all your drivers are updated to the latest versions by running device manager.Hopefully updating your drivers in this way will eradicate many of the niggles associated with upgrades.
7: Let Windows troubleshoot the problem
Windows 8 includes a utility called the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter that can sometimes automatically resolve compatibility problems. You can run the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter by right-clicking on the problematic application and choosing the Troubleshoot Compatibility command from the shortcut menu.
8: Trick the application into thinking it is running on an earlier version of Windows
Some applications are hard-coded to look for a specific version of Windows. In these situations, you can make Windows 8 to fool the application about what version of Windows is running. Start by running the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter (as described above). When you get to the What Problems Do You Notice screen, choose the option for programs that worked in an earlier version of Windows. After clicking Next, you will have the option of choosing which version of Windows the application worked in.
9: Provide the application with extra permissions
Some older applications (especially those written for Windows XP) fail to run due to inadequate permissions. Once again, the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter can help. When you get to the What Problems Do You Notice screen, choose the option related to the program requiring additional permissions. As an alternative, you could try right-clicking on the application and choosing the Run As Administrator option (assuming that you have administrative permissions).
10: Check the Compatibility Center
Finally check the Compatibility Center for information about the application. The Compatibility Center is part of Microsoft website designed to provide application compatibility information for Windows 7 and 8. In some, but regrettably not all instances, it provides a link to detailed instructions on what you must do to make an otherwise-incompatible application work with Windows 8. This is probably a last ditch attempt before accepting defeat and searching out a new supplier of applications.
Hope this all makes sense and if not, give me a call and we’ll see what can be done. Acknowledgement for base article http://www.techrepublic.com/blogs