The Old New Thing

Practical development throughout the evolution of Windows.

Latest posts

How do I determine whether Explorer is showing or hiding file extensions?
Nov 20, 2024
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How do I determine whether Explorer is showing or hiding file extensions?

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

You can ask, but maybe you're asking the wrong question.

A wrinkle in how Windows 95 setup bootstrapped its initial GUI step
Nov 19, 2024
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A wrinkle in how Windows 95 setup bootstrapped its initial GUI step

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

Getting access to the common controls that don't exist until Windows 95.

How do I put a non-copyable, non-movable, non-constructible object into a <CODE>std::optional</CODE>?
Nov 15, 2024
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How do I put a non-copyable, non-movable, non-constructible object into a std::optional?

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

Taking advantage of the conversion operator.

Solving the puzzle of trying to put an object into a <CODE>std::optional</CODE>
Nov 14, 2024
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Solving the puzzle of trying to put an object into a std::optional

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

How do I set a value? Let me count the ways.

The puzzle of trying to put an object into a <CODE>std::optional</CODE>
Nov 13, 2024
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The puzzle of trying to put an object into a std::optional

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

The C++ standard library template type has one of two states. It could be empty (not contain anything), or it could contain a . Suppose you start with an empty . How do you put a into it? One of my colleagues tried to do it in what seemed to be the most natural way: Use the assignment operator. Unfortunately, the assignment failed to compile: I asked for the rest of the error message, because the details will explain what the compiler tried to do (and why it couldn't). It's long, but we'll walk through it. The compiler is showing its work. It's showing you all the possible overloaded assignment opera...

Why did Windows 95 setup use three operating systems?
Nov 12, 2024
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Why did Windows 95 setup use three operating systems?

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

Simplifying the problem to an earlier problem.

Debugger breakpoints are usually implemented by patching the in-memory copy of the code
Nov 11, 2024
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Debugger breakpoints are usually implemented by patching the in-memory copy of the code

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

The code in memory may not match what the debugger shows you if the debugger is itself is doing the changing.

The case of a program that crashed on its first instruction
Nov 8, 2024
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The case of a program that crashed on its first instruction

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

Didn't even make it out of the gate.