Microsoft KB Archive/107978

= EMM Exception Error #6 Exiting Windows for Workgroups 3.11 =

Article ID: 107978

Article Last Modified on 9/26/1999

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.11

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This article was previously published under Q107978



SYMPTOMS
When you exit Windows for Workgroups version 3.11, your system may stop responding (hang). If EMM386.EXE is loaded, you may receive the following error message:

EMM Exception Error #6



CAUSE
This problem occurs because:


 * The processor is trying to decode a bit pattern that does not correspond to any legal machine instruction.

-or-
 * The processor is trying to execute an instruction that contains invalid operands.

Both of these causes mean that the processor (CPU) is trying to execute code from an incorrect area in memory. Either an application is passing an invalid jump instruction (causing a jump to an incorrect memory location) or the jump instruction is correct but the memory that the instruction accesses is corrupted.

NOTE: Although you receive an EMM exception error, EMM386.EXE is not causing the problem. When the processor encounters a problem executing an instruction, it looks for an error handler. When you exit Windows for Workgroups it uses the default error handler. If EMM386.EXE is installed, you receive the EMM Exception Error. If EMM386.EXE is not installed, the machine may stop responding (hang).



WORKAROUND
To troubleshoot this problem, follow the steps in this procedure. After each step, you should reboot your computer, run Windows for Workgroups, and then attempt to successfully exit Windows for Workgroups. When Windows for Workgroups exits successfully, you have isolated the problem.

 If you ran MS-DOS 6 or 6.2 MemMaker before installing Windows for Workgroups, run MemMaker again. Eliminate potential software conflicts as follows:

 Remove any third-party device drivers and terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) programs that are not required to access your hard drive from your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files.

For information on device drivers that should not be remarked out, query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

wfw clean boot

 Ensure that the Windows for Workgroups StartUp group is empty. Ensure that no screen savers, including built-in Windows screen savers, are running. In the Control Panel, choose the Desktop icon and verify that the Screen Saver Name list box is empty. Ensure that Windows is not being run from a menu program, such as MS-DOS Shell.</li> Edit the WIN.INI file and comment out the LOAD= and RUN= lines (unless they are already blank). To comment out these lines, place a semicolon in front of the line. For example:

;load=

</li> Edit the SYSTEM.INI file and comment out any third-party virtual device drivers (VxDs).</li> If possible, disable NDIS2 protocols like TCP or DLC.</li></ol> </li> Eliminate potential hardware conflicts:

<ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> Turn off hardware caching.</li> Turn off shadow ram and video memory.</li></ol> </li> Edit the CONFIG.SYS file and exclude A000-F7FF to eliminate potential upper memory area (UMA) conflicts. To do this, add "X=A000-F7FF" to the DEVICE command for EMM386.EXE in the CONFIG.SYS file.</li> Remark out the device command for EMM386.EXE in the CONFIG.SYS file and then run Windows for Workgroups with the "/D:X" parameter. For example, type win /d:x at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.</li> Start Windows for Workgroups with the WIN /N command. This loads Windows for Workgroups without loading any network support. If the problem does not occur without network software loaded, a hardware device may be conflicting with your network card.</li></ol>

If Windows for Workgroups still hangs when you exit, you still have a memory conflict; however, it is not in the upper memory area (UMA).

Additional query words: 3.11 err msg errors

Keywords: KB107978

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