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Q95873: GP Fault in PROGMAN.EXE with More Than 40 Program Groups

Article: Q95873
Product(s): Microsoft Windows 95.x Retail Product
Version(s): WINDOWS:3.1,3.11
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): win31
Last Modified: 28-SEP-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows versions 3.1, 3.11 
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SYMPTOMS
========

If you upgrade to Windows version 3.1 on a system with Windows 3.0 that has more
than 40 program groups, the following error message occurs when Setup attempts
to create the program groups:

  Progman.exe caused a General Protection Fault in Progman.exe.

Choosing Ignore allows Setup to continue, but the same error message occurs each
time Windows 3.1 is started.

CAUSE
=====

Windows 3.0 has no limit on the number of program groups that can be created in
Program Manager; however, Windows 3.1 is limited to 40 groups.

RESOLUTION
==========

To solve this problem, edit the PROGMAN.INI file and reduce the number of groups
that are loading to fewer than 40 groups.

This can be accomplished as follows:

1. Open PROGMAN.INI in Notepad to edit the PROGMAN.INI file.

2. Locate the [Groups] section.

3. After the [Groups] section, you will see lines beginning with the word
  "GroupX," where X is the group number. For example:

       Group1=c:\Windows\main.grp

4. Remove the extra GroupX= lines by placing a semicolon (;) at the beginning of
  the extra lines until you have no more than 40 groups. For example, let's say
  you have groups called Example and Example2, and you don't use these groups
  very often. Remove them from you list of active groups by adding a semicolon
  as follows:

        ;Group40=c:\Windows\example.grp
        ;Group41=c:\Windows\example2.grp

5. Save the file and start Windows as usual.

For more information about Program Manager's restrictions on the number of
program groups or items, query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge
Base:

  program and manager and group and item and limit and maximum

Additional query words: gpf 3.10 3.11 mouse820 mouse90 0003:0870

======================================================================
Keywords          : win31 
Technology        : kbWin3xSearch kbZNotKeyword3 kbWin310 kbWin311
Version           : WINDOWS:3.1,3.11

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