Fix: Steam thinks its running in compatibility mode

[ZeroHour]

hey guys, I don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but help would be greatly appreciated. So I too was getting the compatibility error notice, so I follow the instructions, go into regedit, blah blah blah, delete the pathway. after I do this, my computer freezes completely. i reboot, and after about 30 seconds to a minute, it freezes again. I boot up in safemode w/ networking. I come back on here, and go into local machine and delete the "foreground" part. Steam opens fine in safe mode w/ networking, however, when I boot up normally, my computer keeps freezing. Has anyone else experienced this and are there any solutions?

some specs
windows 7 64 bit
asus g73 notebook
intel core i7

What AV do you have installed? if it happens to be AVG free I would probably remove it and install Microsoft Security Essentials (free)
Also when did you last update your drivers?

[masstillo]

I have malware bytes full version fr av. I haven't updated my drivers. This problem never ovccured until AFTER I deleted the steam pathway in regedit. I also deleted the foreground and it still
freezes up. My entire computer freezes and ceases to work. Please help <3 haha

[Jeedub]

Thanks so much zerohour! You saved me countless hours as i dont know if i ever would have figured this problem out. This is a great forum, glad to have found it

[Dantaylor]

Thanks for this fix. Running Windows 7 took deleting in both locations but it fixed the issue.

[Lukaso]

Hello,Im having problem with steam for some time... i tried steam technical support forum - Windows 7 freeze with CMultiFieldBlob(pSerialized) - Steam Users' Forums but without reasonable answer.I tried things listed above with registers but when i try to run steam...after reinstall and updates everytime steam.exe starts working computer freezes and i have to reboot it manually because its frozen for like forever,it isnt working isnt doin nothing.I tried to run steam under safe mode...everything went fine there.But in normal mode i cannot get it running without sudden freeze.I tried to make diff account on my pc.But the result was same.I tried the whole register thingys and nothing helped at all.I dont know what to do now and its kinda annoying because it worked fine for 8 months and suddenly it stopped working...reinstalling the whole OS and disc reformat is final solution but deff not best for me...please help... thx Lukas

[Lunatics]

Hey guys I am having the compatibility problem on 64 bit ultimate. I tried deleting the first registry entry that Zero posted, didn't work. Went to the location for the second on but nothing was there that was steam related, just one other random file. I then went under Software for local machine to see if there was a Valve folder there as someone else suggested but there wasn't. Then I went to wownode32 or whatever like another person said and edited the -foreground part of the file in the steam folder. I keep getting the error and the box to turn it off is still grayed out, wtf else can I do this is pissing me off.

[MrMiniDjHedges]

Unfortunately ZeroHour's post didn't help as it wasn't showing. N'or was Steam.exe (or any shortcuts) in compatibility mode. HOWEVER...

WhoKnows partially gave me the solution.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> Software
You should now see a folder named "Valve". Delete it, the hole folder (left click folder "Valve" right click and delete, confirm deletion)

Doing this will give another error but Steam will bring up a recovery program (it'll run in the background so you won't see it.). All you have to do is give it a few minutes then run Steam (obviously not in compatibility mode) and it'll fix itself.

[amnishaw]

I had this problem for the first time today on Windows 7 32-bit (x86), and I didn't have to delete any kind of registry -- Just simply go to Properties on your steam.exe, and there will be a button on the Compatibility tab that will change it for all users. If you are not an admin account, however, I don't think you can make that change.

If that simple step doesn't work, then you can try the registry step, but sometimes its not necessary.

[viking]

Yes i would like to thank you aswell for thread this fix is very usefull, beside i notised your name is Zero Hour (Makes me very glad as i used to be in top 10 in ZH, hopefully this RTS game will be as gd as Zh)
Ty again m8.

[Catofnight]

Hi ZeroHour,

I created an account on here just to say a big THANK YOU for taking the effort to post that, I've been trying to figure out how to fix that issue since yesterday and even did a full reformat to try and get rid of it.

THANKS!

Ditto! Why do I even bother letting Windows try and find/solve the problem? The internet is so much better, as long as you have an idea of which tips to not follow.
Thanks so much

[m1dntlukgud]

Windows 7 64 professional asus m3a32mvp delux MB, 3 Xfired hd3870s
Worked great man I'm glad there are truly intelligent folks like yourself around
Tnx for the fix

[xRedDragonx1987]

Okay, so get this: I've tried everything known to man in order to fix this same problem everyone has been having, and only one thing worked for me. After un-checking compatibility mode for all users, deleting the registry key, AND re-installing steam multiple times, I tried one last thing...go into steam settings, and under the Downloads+Clouds tab, change your region to better match where you are. I have NO idea why, but this fixed my problem. Don't ask! :-)

[Farem]

Thanks alot Zero Hour. Its so random, glad I found this site, usually spend hours hunting for an answer. It didn't work at first but I figured it out, I had it in both locations you listed, so if someone is having a hard time they should check both spots. Also, for future reference, do you know why this happened and at what appears to be a random point? Just want to know so if it is something I did I do not repeat it.

-Farem

[runnin17]

Just joined to post a very, very happy thank you for this fix.

Gotta love steam and the retardedness that it brings sometimes. Cheers!

[Londude]

I have tried EVERYTHING you guys have kindly suggested but this <language!> Steam WILL NOT work.

I'm running windows 7 64 bit home premium and Steam lets me install but when I go to log in my username and password it crashes every time without fail. Before this I had the message where it says it was trying to run in compatibility mode and its bloody not!!! It refuses to work for me.

I've just bought COD Black Ops and I've been up ALL NIGHT trying to solve this as I can't play it.. It's pissing me off beyond belief. I've never used Steam before in my life and I've a good mind to call them and abuse them over the phone lol. It's ridiculous how many hours I've spent banging my head against a brick wall getting absolutely nowhere.

Any other suggestions?