Specifics of Using TestComplete on Various Windows Operating Systems

Known Issues With Windows Updates

Testing on Windows 10 and Later Operating Systems

Testing on Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2008 R2 Requirement

Capturing Window Images

• If you run TestComplete on Windows 10 version 1809 (Windows 10 October 2018 Update), you may face issues with arbitrary Windows Store applications that randomly appear on screen after a system reboot.

  If you encounter such an issue, you can disable the background applications in your Windows operating system (see the instructions below).

• If you run TestComplete on Windows 10 version 1803 (Windows 10 April 2018 Update), you can face the following issues:

  • TestComplete may stop responding.

  • The Object Browser may stop responding while you are exploring the object hierarchy.

  • Arbitrary Windows Store applications may randomly appear on screen.

  This happens because TestComplete cannot properly access the processes running in the background.

  To avoid possible issues:

  1. Update your Windows version to any version that is later than the April 2018 Update.

  2. Update your TestComplete version to 12.60 or later.

  As an alternative, you can disable the background applications in your Windows operating system (see the instructions below). This will improve the situation, but will not eliminate issues completely, though.

• The following Windows updates cause a performance slowdown of TestComplete and its subsystems. We recommend uninstalling them before you run your tests:

  Windows 10 x64           KB4058702 KB4088776 Windows 10 x86 KB4088776

  Windows 8.1 x64 KB4056895   Windows 8.1 x86 KB4088876 KB4088879

• On Windows 10, applications can run in the background when they are minimized, or when a user switches to another application. TestComplete may fail to properly access the applications running in the background (for example, when it updates the object hierarchy) and may stop responding.

  To avoid possible issues, configure your Windows 10 operating system not to run applications in the background:

  1. Open Windows Settings. To do this, click Start, and then click Options.

  2. In the Windows Settings window, click Privacy > Background Apps.

  3. Disable the Let apps run in the background option.

• To test Windows Store applications, TestComplete must be installed in a subfolder of the <Program Files> folder (<Program Files (x86)> on the 64-bit edition of Windows). The easiest way to do this is to install TestComplete into the default installation folder.

• You cannot use the MSAA engine to test Flash and Flex applications running in Microsoft Edge or in Internet Explorer 11. See Testing Flash and Flex Applications.

• If you want to work with TestComplete via COM, your applications must have enhanced privileges. For more information on that, see Configuring Manifests on Windows 8.1 and Later Operating Systems.

• To test Windows Store applications, TestComplete must be installed in a subfolder of the <Program Files> folder (<Program Files (x86)> on the 64-bit edition of Windows). The easiest way to do this is to install TestComplete into the default installation folder.

• You cannot use the MSAA engine to test Flash and Flex applications running in Internet Explorer 11. See Testing Flash and Flex Applications.

• If you want to work with TestComplete via COM, your applications must have enhanced privileges. For more information on that, see Configuring Manifests on Windows 8.1 and Later Operating Systems.

TestComplete requires the WoW64 component of Windows Server 2008 R2 for running. The Server Core installation option for Windows Server 2008 R2 does not install WoW64 by default, so you should install it yourself.

Windows Vista and later versions of Windows include the Desktop Window Manager (DWM) component that enables the Aero user interface theme. When this theme is active, windows and dialog boxes have semi-transparent borders that can affect the image comparison in your tests.

If you use TestComplete on an operating system with the Aero theme enabled and face issues with image comparison, see Capturing Images When the Aero UI Theme Is Active.