BUG: GDI Memory Leak in Developer Studio IDE

ID: Q193365

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

Windows 95 or Windows 98 send messages stating that low GDI memory is available, which occurs due to the constant repainting of the Developer Studio IDE.


CAUSE

There is a memory leak in the IDE. The problem occurs during the repainting of the triangle-shaped icon below the x (that is, close) icon on the top left corner of the output window, as well as the other triangle-shaped icon on the top-right corner of the workspace window. If you have the Plus pack installed, GDI resources fall faster.


RESOLUTION

Close and restart Developer Studio.


STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected Visual Studio 6.0 for Windows.


MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

  1. Start Developer Studio.


  2. Start a tool that is capable of displaying the GDI memory, such as Resource Meter. To find the Resource Meter, click Start and then point to Programs, Accessories, and System Tools. If you cannot find it, you can install it from the Windows CD.


  3. Start resizing Developer Studio or perform some task that causes the IDE to refresh, such as placing another window on top of Developer Studio and then switching back to Developer Studio.

    NOTE: If you are resizing windows, make sure that you have selected the "Show window contents while dragging" check box. To do this, go to the Control Panel and double-click Display. If you are using windows 98, click the Effects tab in the Display properties dialog box and then select the "Show window contents while dragging" check box. If you are using Windows 95, the Effects tab is not available by default. However, if you install the Plus pack a Plus tab appears where you can select the "Show window contents while dragging" check box.


  4. GDI memory starts to drop by 80-100 bytes every time Developer Studio repaints.


  5. Soon GDI memory drops below 100 bytes. The operating system will indicate that the system is running low on GDI memory, which disrupts normal execution of all applications.


Additional query words: 


Keywords          : kbide kbVS97bug kbVS600fix kbDevStudio 
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbbug

Last Reviewed: April 13, 1999