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What is the c:\windows\apppatch purpose and what does it contain?

I see via ProcMon files are occasionally loaded from there and that is now it came on the radar. I'm not finding anything on the Microsoft.com site to educate on it.

DaveWilliamson
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1 Answers1

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The directory c:\windows\apppatch is used by the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit

From How to use the Compatibility Administrator utility in Windows

You can use the Compatibility Administrator tool to quickly apply various program fixes (AppFixes, also known as "shims") to a program to determine their effectiveness. Compatibility Administrator reads the %SystemRoot%\AppPatch\Sysmain.sdb database file to produce a list of available fixes. When you select an AppFix, you can start the program executable (.exe) file, and the AppFix is applied. If a suitable AppFix is found, the tool eventually helps you generate and test matching file information.

So basically that directory contains details of application compatibility usable to seamlessly fix or patch applications that may be designed for older versions of Windows.

Mokubai
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  • Interesting. Given this info about the Compatibility Administrator tool, I wonder if the same thing without the Compatibility Administrator tool is occurring when the end user runs the Troubleshoot Compatibility Wizard on an exe? Hmm. I (and hopefully others) learned something new. – DaveWilliamson Nov 17 '21 at 20:06