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ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER
The API rejected its input contract
ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER is a broad Win32 error used when a value, pointer, size, flag combination, handle, or structure does not satisfy the called function. The API documentation and runtime context are needed to identify the specific argument.
Debugging checklist
- Compare the caller prototype with the current Windows SDK declaration.
- Initialize structure size and version members.
- Validate enumeration ranges, reserved flags, pointer lifetime, and buffer lengths.
- Check wrappers for signedness, truncation, and ANSI-versus-Unicode mismatches.
Recovery
Correct the request rather than retrying it unchanged. Log the function name and sanitized parameter metadata close to the call site, because the system error alone does not identify the bad field. Tests covering boundary values and invalid flag combinations are especially useful for preventing regressions.
References
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