WOW Applications Stack Fault When Launched by a Service (156735)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
This article was previously published under Q156735 SYMPTOMS
Windows on Windows (WOW), or 16-bit Windows applications, may terminate
with a stack fault error when launched by a Windows NT service. The stack
fault error will look similar to the following:
Application Error caused a stack fault in module UNKNOWN at address
00c7:4394f Will Close.
CAUSE
WOW applications create a secure shared memory region during startup that
allows only logged on users access. When a service launches a second WOW
application, the resulting process will attempt to open the existing shared
memory region. Because the security context of the process started by a
service is not purely interactive, when it attempts to access the existing
shared memory region, it gets an access denied error. The second WOW
process will continually try to access the existing shared memory region
until a stack fault occurs and it terminates.
RESOLUTION
Wow32.dll and Vdmdbg.dll were modified to allow non-logged on users access
to the shared memory region.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 4.0.
This problem was corrected in the latest Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 U.S.
Service Pack. For information on obtaining the service pack, query on the
following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):
| Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 8/8/2001 |
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| Keywords: | kbnetwork KB156735 |
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