17 August 2009

BgInfo: error with success without success

I hadn't used bginfo from Sysinternals for a long time. As usual, i added the company logo as background, but here comes the surprise when saving:

bginfo
(Error saving settings to registry: The operation completed sucessfully)

So we have an error saving to the reigstry, but the operation is a success...Amazing ? Obiously, disappointed few seconds later, no bgi file...

Context:

  • Windows Vista SP1 32 bit
  • Last bginfo (4.15)
  • With and without privilege escalation (Why do we suspect immediately UAC?)

What can we do when a Sysinternal tool fails ? Use another Sysinternal tool for diagnostic!
Process monitor
shows up an error for "insufficient resources":

bginfo_processmonitor

Process explorer shows that the system is missing some resources (but still 742MB of available memory immediately)
procexp

I tried on my workstation with 8GB of ram, same..Windows XP ? same!

Finally, i reduced the picture before importing, and it worked great.

I sent a quick mail to Mark Russinovich…Feedback one hour later:

Thanks for the bug report, Mathieu. It looks like Bginfo was trying to write 7MB to the registry.