Unsupported 16-Bit Files

AdminStudio 2023 | 25.0 | Application Manager

For this operating system compatibility test, the Windows Installer database is scanned for the presence of components that contain 16-bit files without conditions that disable them for 64-bit Windows systems. The file extensions that are scanned are .exe, .dll, .sys, .drv, .ocx, .cpl, and .src.

Test Group/Test Category

0417—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 8.1 (64-Bit)
0517—Operating System Compatibility/Windows Server 2012
0618—Operating System Compatibility/Windows Server 2016
1018—Operating System Compatibility/Windows Server 2019
0617—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 8.1 (32-Bit)
2817—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-1809 (and 2019 LTSC) (32-Bit)
5617—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-20H2 (32-Bit)
5817—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-21H1 (32-Bit)
7017—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-21H2 (32-Bit)
7217—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-22H2 (32-Bit)
2917—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-1809 (and 2019 LTSC) (64-Bit)
5717—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-20H2 (64-Bit)
5917—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-21H1 (64-Bit)
7117—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-21H2 (64-Bit)
7317—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-22H2 (64-Bit)
6717—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 11-21H2 (64-Bit)
7417—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 11-22H2 (64-Bit)

Severity

Error

Message

This Windows Installer database contains 16-bit file [FILE_NAME] which might be installed in 64-bit systems (Table: File, key: [FILE_KEY]).

Background

Since the introduction of 64-bit Windows systems, 16-bit code is no longer supported. If the launch conditions are missing or incorrect, 16-bit files might be installed on 64-bit Windows Server 2008 R2 systems. If a user attempts to launch such a file, they encounter an error message stating that the file is not a valid Win32 application.

Resolution

The following resolutions are available.

Manual Fix

A Windows Server 2008 R2-compatible application should be delivered by its manufacturer. Self-developed applications should be re-engineered by replacing 16-bit code with the appropriate 32- or 64-bit code.

Basic Auto Fix

No resolution is available.

Advanced Auto Fix

The 16-bit files that are configured to be installed on 64-bit systems are moved to separate components with conditions that enable them only for 32-bit systems; this is done in a Windows Installer transform.

This fix is enabled by default.

Caution:On 64-bit systems, those files will not be installed.

See Also