FIX: Application Crashes When Run in Debugger

ID: Q217168

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions, version 6.0

SYMPTOMS

An application runs as expected outside of the debugger but causes an application error like this when run in the debugger:

System Process - Application Error
The Application failed to initialize properly (0xc00000005)

Another symptom appears if the reserve value specified for the HEAP linker option is smaller than the commit value: The reserve value is silently increased to the commit value.

CAUSE

The heap reserve size is smaller than the commit size. This means that applications that rely on these values (such as the debugger) are not able to load the binary image.

RESOLUTION

The heap reserve size should always be greater than or equal to the commit size. The linker provided in Service Pack 3 checks these values. If the reserve value is less than the commit value, the linker generates a fatal error. For example, linking with the option /HEAP:0x400,0x1000 causes this error:

LNK1229: Commit size greater than the reserve size in "/HEAP"

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

This bug was corrected in Visual Studio 6.0 Service Pack 3. For more information about Visual Studio service packs, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q194022 INFO: Visual Studio 6.0 Service Packs, What, Where, Why

Q194295 HOWTO: Tell That Visual Studio 6.0 Service Packs Are Installed

MORE INFORMATION

To view the reserve and commit values for an executable, use the dumpbin utility:

dumpbin /headers filename.exe

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbservicepack kbVC600 kbVS600sp2 kbVS600SP1 kbVS600sp3fix
Version : winnt:6.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug