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Q132344: FIX: App Terminates Unexpectedly after Windows NT 3.51 Upgrade

Article: Q132344
Product(s): Microsoft C Compiler
Version(s): winnt:
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kberrmsg kbCRT kbVC kbfix
Last Modified: 30-JUL-2001

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

- The C Run-Time (CRT), included with:
   - *EDITOR Please do not choose this product*Microsoft Visual C++ 32-bit Edition* use 241, 265, 225, versions 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SYMPTOMS
========

After you upgrade to Windows NT version 3.51, malloc or other run-time memory
allocation functions may fail when unable to grow the run-time library's heap.

Windows applications that are statically linked to the C run-time library and all
console applications issue the error, "R6018 - Unexpected heap error," and
terminate.

Windows-based applications which are linked to the DLL version of the C run- time
library, and MFC applications will unexpectedly terminate with no error message.
This termination may be preceded by a message saying that the system is low on
resources and to close down some applications.

CAUSE
=====

This problem is caused by a change in the return code from the VirtualAlloc()
function. It formerly returned ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_MEMORY when it could not commit
pages. Now it returns ERROR_COMMITMENT_LIMIT. The problem occurs only on Windows
NT version 3.51 and only when the application hits its commit limit as chosen by
Windows NT. This limit varies depending on such things as the size of the
installed memory and the number of applications running. The sample code listed
in this article causes the R6018 error when run on Windows NT version 3.51 but
runs to completion under previous versions of Windows NT.


RESOLUTION
==========

The C Run-Time heap manager was changed in Visual C++ 4.0 to no longer use
VirtualAlloc(). Visual C++ version 4.0 correctly handles the
ERROR_COMMITMENT_LIMIT case.

This problem can be worked-around in Visual C++ 2.X by allocating large blocks of
memory using Win32 memory allocation APIs.

STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem when using malloc on Windows NT
version 3.51. This problem was corrected in Visual C++, 32-bit edition, version
4.0.

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

Sample Code to Reproduce Problem
--------------------------------

  /* Compile options needed: none
  */ 

  #include <stdlib.h>
  void main()
  {
      void * p = malloc( 1024*1024*1024 ); // try to allocate 1GB
      if( p )
      {
          printf( "malloc returned non-NULL\r\n");
          free(p);
      }
      else
          printf( "malloc returned NULL\r\n");
  }

Additional query words: 1.00 2.00 2.10 2.20 fatal error die shut down disappear

======================================================================
Keywords          : kberrmsg kbCRT kbVC kbfix 
Technology        : kbVCsearch kbAudDeveloper kbCRT
Version           : winnt:
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix

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

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