The Old New Thing
Practical development throughout the evolution of Windows.
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Apr 17, 2026
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Forgotten message from the past: LB_INITSTORAGE
Preallocating memory to avoid quadratic behavior.
Apr 16, 2026
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8
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What’s up with window message 0x0091? We’re getting it with unexpected parameters
Trespassing on system messages.
Apr 15, 2026
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Why is there a long delay between a thread exiting and the WaitForSingleObject returning?
Maybe it didn't really exit.
Apr 14, 2026
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Why was there a red telephone at every receptionist desk?
Not a direct line to Bill Gates's office.
Apr 13, 2026
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Finding a duplicated item in an array of N integers in the range 1 to N − 1
Taking advantage of special characteristics of the array.
Apr 10, 2026
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How do you add or remove a handle from an active WaitForMultipleObjects?, part 2
Waiting for the waiting thread to acknowledge the change.
Apr 9, 2026
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How do you add or remove a handle from an active WaitForMultipleObjects?
You can't, but you can cooperate with the other thread.
Apr 8, 2026
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How do you add or remove a handle from an active MsgWaitForMultipleObjects?
You can't, but you can arrange for the waiter to do it for you.
Apr 7, 2026
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Were there any Windows 3.1 programs that were so incompatible with Windows 95 that there was no point trying to patch them?
The permanently ineligible list.
