Windows: Maximum Valid Size for REG.DAT and .INI Files (78346)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows 3.0
- Microsoft Windows 3.1
- Microsoft Windows 3.11
- Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.1
- Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.11
This article was previously published under Q78346 SUMMARY
The maximum valid size for a REG.DAT or .INI file is 64 kilobytes (K). In
some instances, however, problems occur when these files are greater than
32K.
MORE INFORMATION
If an application uses the standard Windows application program interface
(API) calls to access the .INI files, the limit is 64K. Examples of these
standard API calls are GetPrivateProfileString() and
WritePrivateProfileString().
If, for example, the WIN.INI file exceeds 64K, the information beyond 64K
is ignored, and Windows may behave unpredictably--system configuration
changes may not be implemented, fonts may be missing, printer information
may be missing, and default information from applications may not be saved.
If an application uses a SIGNED INT instead of an UNSIGNED INT to point to
the file size, the size limit for these files is 32K. Some third-party
applications may be unable to read .INI files, including the WIN.INI file,
if they are larger than 32K.
NOTE: Page 89 of the "Microsoft Windows Resource Kit" (WRK) for version 3.0
incorrectly states that the maximum size of the WIN.INI file is 32K.
SysEdit
The Microsoft Windows SysEdit program provided with Windows cannot
correctly edit a file larger than 30,000 bytes. If SysEdit does load a file
larger than 30,000 bytes, you can delete text, but you cannot type any text
until you reduce the file size to 29,999 bytes or fewer.
The largest file SysEdit can load is between 30,000 bytes and 53K,
depending on your system. If you load a file large than 30,000 bytes, you
may receive the following error message:
<Filename>
Cannot open this file.
If the large file you are trying to open is the WIN.INI file, only part of
it may load, and you may receive the following two error messages:
C:\CONFIG.SYS
Cannot open this file
C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT
Cannot open this file
| Modification Type: | Minor | Last Reviewed: | 7/19/2005 |
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| Keywords: | KB78346 |
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