PRB: Error "System resources exhausted" When Linking

The information in this article applies to:

• The Linker (LINK.EXE) included with:

      - Microsoft C for MS-DOS, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0ax
      - Microsoft C/C++ for MS-DOS, version 7.0
      - Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, versions 1.0 and 1.5
      - Microsoft FORTRAN for MS-DOS, version 5.1
      - Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM) for MS-DOS, versions 5.1, 6.0,
        6.1, and 6.11
  

SYMPTOMS

Attempting to link a program with SHARE.EXE loaded can produce this error:

   System resources exhausted. Abort, Retry, Fail?

CAUSE

LINK and NMAKE keep a large number of files open. The buffer that holds file sharing information or the number of simultaneous file-region locks exceeded the default values for SHARE.EXE.

RESOLUTION

Here are two possible workarounds:

• Do not load SHARE.EXE

  -or-

• Load SHARE.EXE with the following parameters:

  SHARE /L:500 /F:4096

  If the error still occurs, continue raising the /L and /F parameters for SHARE.EXE.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

The /L parameter specifies the maximum number of file-region locks. By default, SHARE.EXE supports up to 20 simultaneous file-region locks.

The /F parameter for SHARE specifies the size of the buffer in bytes used to hold file sharing information. This information includes the fully qualified path name of each open file, along with some additional overhead. By default this buffer is 2048 bytes in size.