Manual Installation (Guide by Alex Parr)

Part 1: Installing the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK)
Part 2: Adding the Compatibility Settings
Part 3: Updating the Database
Part 4: Troubleshooting

This tutorial walks you through the process of manually installing AgentPatch using its' .sdb file. It does get a bit technical, so just bare with me here.

Part 1: Installing the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK)

If you have previously installed the Windows ADK and have the Compatibility Administrator application, you can skip this part.

1. Go to the official page for the Windows ADK:
   Download and install the Windows ADK | Microsoft Learn
2. Download the ADK.
   • There is a jump link in the article that will quickly take you to the download button. You will not need to read through the whole article to understand what we're doing here.
   • Make sure you click the link that says "Download the Windows ADK" and not the one that says "Download the Windows PE add-on for the Windows ADK".
3. Go through the installation until you get to the section named "Select the features you want to install".
   • If you skip past this screen, you won't install the specific application that we want.
4. In the list of applications, make sure that "Application Compatibility Tools" is checked.
   • This option contains the application that we want; the Compatibility Administrator.

5. Click on "Install" and complete the installation.
   • Close the installer when it's finished.

• If the installation was successful and you did everything correctly, you should now find an application named "Compatibility Administrator" by searching for it.
• If the application is not there, simply re-launch the installer, select "Change" and check the Application Compatibility Tools option. Then, click the "Change" button.

Part 2: Adding the Compatibility Settings

This is the "main" part of the tutorial.

1. Download the Microsoft Agent Windows 11 compatibility fix database:
   AgentPatch.sdb (Last updated: May 28, 2025)
2. Launch the 32-bit Compatibility Administrator.
   • The 64-bit version will not work, as Microsoft Agent and MASH are both 32-bit programs.
3. Select "Open" from the top menu.
   • From here, you will want to open the AgentPatch.sdb file that you downloaded earlier.

4. Right-click the newly-added "AgentPatch" database, and select "Install" from the drop-down menu.
   • Once the database is installed, you can safely close the Compatibility Administrator.

5. Launch the Microsoft Agent Scripting Helper (or any other Micrsoft Agent-based application) to verify that everything works.
   • If everything worked correctly, MASH shouldn't crash upon startup and all Agents should now have a completely transparent background.
   • In this case, take note of how Genie doesn't have a bright-pink background behind him.

• At this point, the Windows ADK can be safely uninstalled. Because the compatibility settings for these apps are now stored in the registry, uninstalling the ADK will not mess with these settings.
  • To uninstall the ADK, simply search for "Add or remove programs" in the system's search tray. Then search for "Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit" in the Settings window, click on the three dots next to the application and select "Uninstall".

Part 3: Updating the Database

When/if I release a new version of the patch, this is what you can do to update the database on your computer manually.

1. Repeat Part 1.
   • If you haven't uninstalled the Windows ADK yet, then you can skip this step.
2. Download the Microsoft Agent Windows 11 compatibility fix database:
   AgentPatch.sdb (Last updated: May 28, 2025)
3. Launch the 32-bit Compatibility Administrator.
4. Right-click the "AgentPatch" database under Installed Databases, and click "Uninstall."
   • This part is necessary because we don't want two databases conflicting with each other.

5. Select "Open" from the top menu.
   • From here, you will want to open the new AgentPatch.sdb file that you downloaded earlier.

6. Right-click the newly-added "AgentPatch" database, and select "Install" from the drop-down menu.
   • Once the database is installed, you can safely close the Compatibility Administrator.

7. Launch the Microsoft Agent Scripting Helper (or any other Micrsoft Agent-based application) to verify that everything works.
   • If everything worked correctly, you should still get the same results that you got before.

Part 4: Troubleshooting

So you followed this guide and MASH is coming up with an error. What gives? Please consider the following:

• Make sure that any user-set compatibility settings for both the MSAgent Server and the applications you want to run are disabled.
  • These tend to override any settings that are set in the Compatibility Administrator.
  • To do this, right-click the application(s) and click "Properties". Then, go into the Compatibility tab and make sure that all of the checkmarks are disabled. You will need to do this for both the MSAgent Server application and every MSAgent-based application you want to run (MASH, BonziBUDDY, etc.)

• Try redownloading the patch.
  • Perhaps something weird happened during the download.
• Make sure you have the latest Windows 11 updates installed.
  • This can either be the latest release of the system or the latest Insider Preview. I've confirmed that the patch works on both the latest 23H2 and 24H2 updates at the time of me writing this. (January 2, 2025)
• If your computer uses an ARM processor of some kind, you may be out of luck.
  • Some applications flat-out will not work with an ARM processor. While I don't own an ARM computer myself, this may include Microsoft Agent as a whole.