What does Windows error code 195 (ERROR_INVALID_MINALLOCSIZE) mean?

ERROR_INVALID_MINALLOCSIZE

What ERROR_INVALID_MINALLOCSIZE means

ERROR_INVALID_MINALLOCSIZE is Win32 system error code associated with the documented message: “The operating system cannot run %1.” The significant condition is that the legacy executable requests an invalid minimum allocation size for one of its segments or process areas.

Likely causes

• header allocation fields are corrupt or internally inconsistent
• a linker or packer encoded a value beyond the format’s legal range
• a partial patch changed segment sizes without updating minimum-allocation metadata

Troubleshooting steps

1. parse the minimum-allocation fields with a format-aware inspection tool
2. Compare calculated segment requirements with declared values
3. rebuild or restore the image instead of editing the field in place

Code-specific investigation notes

Minimum-allocation metadata tells the loader how much additional memory a segment or process requires beyond bytes present in the file. It must be consistent with the format’s limits.

Check for arithmetic wraparound when a build tool derives allocation values from section sizes or alignment.

If the field changed between two vendor builds, compare linker versions and memory-model options before attributing the result to Windows.

Difference from related errors

ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_MEMORY reports runtime resource exhaustion; it rejects malformed allocation metadata before normal execution begins.

References

• Microsoft: System error codes 0–499