Am I able to prevent a program with compatibility settings applied, from launching other applications with those same compatibility settings? I ask because Microsoft recently changed it so that I have to upgrade to MSN Messenger 2011 to continue using it under Windows 7, unless I enabled Windows XP compatibility mode for MSN Messenger. The problem? If I check my email via MSN Messenger it launches Firefox in Windows XP mode too (Unless Firefox is already running) and the XP theme for Firefox is just out of place under Windows 7 and the inconsistent Firefox behavior is annoying.Core i7 920 @ 2.66GHZ | ASUS P6T Mother Board | 6 gig DDR3 1600 RAM | 2x 500g SATA2 HDD | Integrated sound | Gainward Geforce GTX 560Ti "Phantom 2" 2048MB PCI-E (latest drivers) | Windows 7 Home Premium x64 | Thermaltake 750watt Toughpower Power Supply | Thermaltake Armor+ MX case.

Hi, From your description, I understand that you have upgraded MSN to Windows Live Essentials 2011. However, it cannot launch properly unless in XP compatibility mode. If Windows Live Essentials runs in compatibility mode, the Firefox launches in compatibility mode also when you check the email from it. If I have misunderstood your concern, please feel free let me know. Actually, Windows Live Essentials 2011 should run properly in Windows 7. The main issue may be caused by Windows Live Essentials 2011. You may contact its support directly. http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windowslive/forum/messenger?auth=1Kim Zhou TechNet Community Support

Ah yes you've misunderstood. I am sticking to Windows Live Messenger 2009, not 2011 due to certain... issues with 2011 as well as the general pasty appearance of the 2011 product. Recently Microsoft have started forcing users who use MSN Messenger under Windows 7 to upgrade to 2011 by preventing the user from logging in to Windows Live Messenger 2009. To avoid being forced to upgrade to the latest version of MSN Messenger I must run MSN Messenger 2009 in Windows XP Service Pack 3 compatibility mode. If Windows Live Essentials runs in compatibility mode, the Firefox launches in compatibility mode also when you check the email from it. This part of your reply however is accurate and is the behavior I want to avoid. Core i7 920 @ 2.66GHZ | ASUS P6T Mother Board | 6 gig DDR3 1600 RAM | 2x 500g SATA2 HDD | Integrated sound | Gainward Geforce GTX 560Ti "Phantom 2" 2048MB PCI-E (latest drivers) | Windows 7 Home Premium x64 | Thermaltake 750watt Toughpower Power Supply | Thermaltake Armor+ MX case.