ACMSETUP.EXE Caused a General Protection Fault in MSSETUP.DLL

ID: Q112038

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Ancient Lands for Windows, version 1.0
Microsoft Asimov's Ultimate Robot for Windows, version 1.0
Microsoft Bookshelf, 1994 edition
Microsoft Cinemania, 1995 edition
Microsoft Complete Baseball, 1994 edition
Microsoft Complete Basketball for Windows
Microsoft Dangerous Creatures for Windows, version 1.0
Microsoft Encarta, 1995 edition
Microsoft Office for Windows, version 4.2, 4.3
Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows, version 4.0
Microsoft The Ultimate Frank Lloyd Wright, 1994 edition
Microsoft Word for Windows, version 6.0a

SYMPTOMS

The Setup program that is included with the products listed above, produces the following error message when it updates your system files (at the end of the setup process):

   ACMSETUP Caused a General Protection Fault in Module MSSETUP.DLL at
   0021:0238.

CAUSE

This problem occurs when both of the following conditions are true:

You are running Microsoft Windows 3.1
-and-
There are sections in the SYSTEM.INI file that are not separated by blank lines. (Normally there are several sections in the SYSTEM.INI and the sections are separated by blank lines. If these lines get deleted or replaced with other entries during the setup of other programs, drivers, or utilities, you may experience this problem.)

NOTE: Sometimes it may appear that there is blank line, but the line actually contains one or more spaces. Inserting an additional blank line between sections ensures that there is at least one blank line as required.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, do the following:

1. Edit the SYSTEM.INI file and add a blank line between each section.

   The first line in each section is enclosed in square brackets. The
   SYSTEM.INI file is a text file and can be edited in any standard text
   editor (such as Windows Notepad or Windows Write). If you use Microsoft
   Write as a text editor, you must choose 'No Conversion' when you open
   the file. If you do not, your file will be corrupted.

2. Quit Windows.

   NOTE: This step is necessary because the Setup program did not quit
   normally. If you don't exit Windows, you will probably get a sharing
   violation because the setup files are still in use.

3. Restart Windows.

4. Re-install the program. If you install the program to the same location,

   you should not have to delete any files before re-installing.

NOTE: PowerPoint 4.0c Setup prevents this problem in PowerPoint.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

In some configurations you may also experience a sharing violation when you choose Close to get rid of the GP fault error message. This only occurs on systems where a swap file is being used. You can ignore this message and follow the instructions listed above to resolve the problem. You will not receive the sharing violation at the end of the re-installation of the product.

If you don't re-install, you may experience problems using the product because the Setup program was unable to make the necessary changes to your system.

KBCategory: kbsetup kberrmsg KBSubcategory:

Additional reference words: msn_encarta Share 4.00 6.0 6.00 4.20 GPF Setup macppt winppt buglist pp4bug 3.10 word6

Last Reviewed: September 10, 1996