KnowledgeBase Archive

An Archive of Early Microsoft KnowledgeBase Articles

View on GitHub

Q82318: Stack Overflow Can Cause Windows to Hang

Article: Q82318
Product(s): Microsoft Windows 3.x Retail Product
Version(s): WINDOWS:
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbProd2Web
Last Modified: 10-MAY-2001

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows versions 3.0, 3.0a, 3.1, 3.11 
- Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY
=======

Stack overflows can cause Microsoft Windows to stop responding (hang). If
Windows hangs intermittently, try adding the following line to the CONFIG.SYS
file:

     STACKS=9,256

MORE INFORMATION
================

The addition of the STACKS command line causes MS-DOS to reserve space for
hardware interrupt handling (rather than an application's stack). In general,
the default setting gives you more free memory; however, there are situations
when the hardware interrupt routines require more space. On IBM machines,
STACKS=0,0 is the default; on all other machines, STACKS=9,128 is the default.

One such situation is when you are running SMARTDrive (SMARTDRV.EXE) version 4.0
with certain network cards. Windows Setup should modify the CONFIG.SYS file
accordingly when Windows is installed if it detects a known problem
configuration.

If Windows is hanging or crashing, particularly if SMARTDRV.EXE 4.0 is running,
or a network is installed, try adding the STACKS command to the CONFIG.SYS file
and see if that corrects the problem.

For more information, please query on the following words in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base: STACKS and OVERVIEW

Additional query words: 3.0 3.00 3.0a 3.00a 3.1 3.10 3.11

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbProd2Web 
Technology        : kbWinMEsearch kbWin3xSearch kbZNotKeyword3 kbWin300 kbWin300a kbWin310 kbWin311 kbWinME
Version           : WINDOWS:

=============================================================================

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.