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All scheduled programs terminate immediately after being started, with a return code of 128

Article ID: I02000049
Last Updated: March 2, 2008

Applies To

Arcana Scheduler 2.3.x

Summary

All scheduled programs terminate immediately after being started, with a return code of 128. This problem generally affects "console-mode" (non-GUI) programs, when the "Allow program to interact with desktop" option is not checked in the Program Properties in the Arcana Scheduler.

This problem may occur when the computer runs out of desktop heap (see Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q156484. This causes the programs to terminate during intialization, and the operating system supplies the return code of 128.

More Information

If the "Allow program to interact with desktop" option is checked for the program, a dialog box similar to one of the following may be displayed by the program:

Initialization of the dynamic library <SYSTEM>\system32\user32.dll failed. The process is terminating abnormally.

Initialization of the dynamic library <SYSTEM>\system32\kernel32.dll failed. The process is terminating abnormally.

Workaround

Generally this problem is caused by the operating system or an application "leaking" desktop heap memory. When enough memory has been lost due to the problem, the errors will occur. Restarting the computer will restore the lost memory. Increasing the heap size as described below will defer the problem, but will not resolve it if it is due to memory leaks. The only solution to these leaks is to track down the application that is causing the leak.

If the problem occurs immediately after restarting, it may be due to a large number of services running on the system. You may need to adjust the heap size as described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q142676.

Status

This problem is due to memory leaks in the operating system or in applications or services. Arcana Development has conducted extensive testing of version 2.3.0.9 of the Scheduler and does not believe that the Scheduler is the source of any desktop heap leaks.

If you are using an earlier version of the Scheduler it is possible that the Scheduler is contributing to the problem. You should upgrade to the current version and see if the problem continues.