IT Professionals

How Do I Resolve My Problem With appcompat.txt?

Posted by on Jun 17, 2005 | 13 Comments

This is another case of Windows being particularly obscure. You see (and I’ll say this several times), appcompat.txt is not the problem.

I can hear a crowd of people saying “Yes it is! It’s right there in this error message!” That’s what I mean by Windows being obscure. Read the error message carefully and you’ll see what I mean. appcompat.txt is not the problem, it’s not the error, and it’s not the cause of the error… it’s information about the error.

appcompat.txt is simply a reporting file used when uploading error reports to Microsoft. You’ve seen the message asking you if you would like to “report this error to Microsoft?” appcompat.txt is a file that is uploaded if you say yes.

appcompat.txt is not the problem. It contains information about the problem. Open it up in notepad, and you’ll see what I mean. When you get an error message that references appcompat.txt, it’ll usually give you the full path to the file. So click on Start, Run, and enter:

notepad C:\DOCUME~1\username\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER7b4e.dir00\appcompat.txt

Where “C:\DOCUME~1\username\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER7b4e.dir00\appcompat.txt” is replaced with the actual information that was presented in the error message, you’ll see a lot of technical information that begins with this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<DATABASE>

Followed by information about the program that was running at the time an error occurred. Note: it’s not meant that you understand this. It’s meant for the engineers back at Microsoft to use to analyze failures and hopefully provide fixes over time. I point it out here, simply to drive home the point:

appcompat.txt is not the problem. It contains information about the problem.

So what do you do when you get an error message that references appcompat.txt? In my opinion, a) allow windows to report the error to Microsoft, if it asks you to, and b) forget about appcompat.txt. Unless you’re technical enough to understand what’s inside of it, it will not help you. Focus instead on what you were doing when the problem happened. We all know that programs can crash for many, many different reasons. The problem could be due to a bug in an application, a problem with your machine, a bug in Windows, a security issue, or any number of other things. Just saying “it’s appcompat.txt” tells you exactly nothing about the problem.

The steps to take then will depend on what you were doing and what applications were involved. A fix could be as simple as a configuration change, a virus scan a system file check, or as complex as a complete rebuild and reinstall of Windows. But without more information, there’s simply no way to know.

As a final note I want to be clear that appcompat.txt and appcompat.txt are two completely different things. appcompat.txt is discussed in this other article: appcompat.txt – What is appcompat.txt?

Related:
Ask Leo! - appcompat.txt – What Is appcompat.txt?
Ask Leo! - Viruses: How Do I Keep Myself Safe From Viruses?
Ask Leo! - What Is The System File Checker, And How Do I Run It?

  • F A B Scott

    [quote]As a final note I want to be clear that appcompat.txt and appcompat.txt are two completely different things.[/quote]
    They look the same to me.

    Should one be .exe.?

  • newbie

    haha iw as thinking the same^^

  • Mark Trebing

    Hello,

    My name is Mark.I can’t say I understood any of that article but it seems I can’t get help anywhere.I talked to Gateway a few times and they gave me things to do that didn’t help.When I go to My Documents from the start I get an error message saying I need to close and asking me to report,which I do.I looked and the whole thing it says is C:\DOCUME~1\Owner\LOCALS~1\Temp\2086_appcompat.txt Is there any way I can find this and delete it?? I can get to M Pictures and everywhere from the start button without any errors. My email is boomer2212@yahoo.com
    Thank you,
    Mark Trebing

  • Leo

    Mark Trebing,
    Please do the following steps:
    1. Turn off your computer, the button is on the front and it will be the big one.
    2. Unplug everything from it.
    3. Put it back in the box that it came in.
    4. Put it in your car.
    5. Take it back to the shop you bought it from and tell them you are too stupid to own a computer.

  • Ghengis

    Leo,
    There’s no reason to be an *** about it. Some people just don’t understand the way Micro$oft Windoze works in the slightest way.

    Mark,
    Reread the article above and you will see that appcompat.txt is not the problem. It is the text file with technical information about your system that is sent to Micro$oft engineers so that they can compile all of the ones that they receive from the millions of people who send in the error reports. Your best bet is to back up all of the files you want to keep and use the restore disk that came with your computer to restore it back to its factory default settings, then reinstall any programs you had previously.

  • Bleada

    Hi all. This is what appcompat.txt file includes as error message. I’m not technically educated to understand what it says so I need help of yours. I have the problem below while I’m trying to play GTA San Andreas. I open the game and It crashes to windows after intro movies. I couldn’t find any exact solutions. I would be glad if I find help..

    (Pentium IV 2.4 ghz 512 mb ram/ have latest graphic updates/ have antivirus and spamblockers and scanned everything.)

  • thomas

    i wanted to run hitman blood money and it didn’t work I go theis error 815_appcompat.txt

  • Jelly

    dude way to be a dic about appcompat.txt. Some people dont understand what is wrong with their computer when they see appcompat.txt.

    Instead why dont you actually solve the problem and put it up instead of this arrogant article if its put so simply.

  • Ardiana

    there are usually several files that iare referred with the appcompat.txt. that are usually the problem file or files and gives you a hint of what program is cousing the error/crash.

  • papul

    after 48 hrs of R&D and installing spybots etc… i carefully read what the problem read in the txt file which led me to grabmi filter system error – which basically is a windows command that accesses folders with media and tries to get info abt it before you can open it/execute it – at least that is what i understood… anyways so my specific error was because of this and the fact that i did not have the right codecs for xvid (inspite of me downloading the xvid codecs from the official site) – and so i downloaded the K-Lite Codec Pack – and voila!! eureka!!! accompat.txt has gone… no crashes… no error msgs… so the trick i learnt was to look at the error message and tackle the problem directly!!! So best of luck… dont i sound relieved? haha!!
    http://www.free-codecs.com/download/…codec_pack.htm

  • JACK

    i am running nfs most wanted black edition………….but everytimr when i finished the race…………the game stops & it gives a error report………….about 512b_appcompat.txt……………please help me>?????????????

    • Rajiv Shah

      I get the following error message when I open my computer, an Asus netbook: C:\DOCUME~1\Asus\LOCALS~1\Temp\1c93_appcompat.txt. I’m asked to report to Microsoft about it. I find no such file in my computer (I have searched both C and D drives). Why am I getting the error? Do I just ignore it, as you seem to say in your article “How do I resolve my problem with appcompat.txt?”?

  • LEA

    How Do I Resolve My Problem With appcompat.txt?
    - YOU ONLY EXPLAINED US WHAT IS ACCOMPAT.TXT BUT WHERE’S THE ANSWER? OUR PROBLEM IS TO FIX THIS ERROR.