Application fails in CreateProcess(...) call on Windows 2016 Server

Belyy, Andrey 1

Customer running our application on Windows 2016 server. Application fails in CreateProcess(...) call with error 193(0xc1): "%1 is not a valid Win32 application".
But works fine on other systems(even 2016). Mystery. Maybe some security settings?

Roy Li - MSFT 33,486 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2021-02-02T01:50:27.747+00:00

Could you please tell me if your app is a win32 application? Could you please share the code how did you call the CreateProcess(...) function?
Belyy, Andrey 1 Reputation point

2021-02-02T02:38:23.467+00:00

It's 64-bit:

Belyy, Andrey 1

bool bUsePipe = true;//false

CString strCMD;
strCMD.GetEnvironmentVariable( _T("LINK_DIR") );
strCMD += _T("\\bin\\al_engine.exe \");

HANDLE hInputReadPipe = NULL, hInputWritePipe = NULL;

SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES sa;
SECURITY_DESCRIPTOR sd; 
InitializeSecurityDescriptor( &sd, SECURITY_DESCRIPTOR_REVISION );
SetSecurityDescriptorDacl( &sd, true, NULL, false );
sa.lpSecurityDescriptor = &sd;
sa.nLength = sizeof(SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES);
sa.bInheritHandle = true;

if ( bUsePipe )
{
    if ( !CreatePipe( &hInputReadPipe, &hInputWritePipe, &sa, 0 ) )
    {
        MessageBox( _T("CreatePipe() failed.") );
        return;
    }
}

STARTUPINFO si;
GetStartupInfo( &si );
si.dwFlags     = STARTF_USESTDHANDLES|STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW;
si.wShowWindow = SW_HIDE;
si.hStdInput  = hInputReadPipe;

Belyy, Andrey 1

PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
if ( CreateProcess( NULL, (LPTSTR)(LPCTSTR)CString(strCMD +(bUsePipe ? _T(" -eg") : _T(""))), &sa, NULL, TRUE, 0, NULL, NULL, &si, &pi ) )
{
    if ( bUsePipe )
    {
        CString strKey = _T("ds");
        DWORD dwBytesWritten = 0;
        if ( !WriteFile( hInputWritePipe, strKey, (DWORD)strKey.GetLength(), &dwBytesWritten, NULL ) )
            dwBytesWritten = 0;
    }
}

Roy Li - MSFT 33,486 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2021-02-02T02:54:17.827+00:00

Maybe I did not make it clear. What is the kind of your app? Is your app a desktop win32 APP or a WinForms app?
Belyy, Andrey 1 Reputation point

2021-02-02T03:47:44.62+00:00

It's Win64 APP

2 answers

Drake Wu - MSFT 991 Reputation points

2021-02-02T05:56:20.327+00:00
Hi @Belyy, Andrey You could check this answer on stackoverflow:
The most likely explanations for that error are:

The file you are attempting to load is not an executable file.

There is a problem loading one of the dependencies of the executable. Check if there is a mismatch between your application and dependency.

In addition, the line strCMD += _T("\\bin\\al_engine.exe \"); seems like it cannot be compiled, it should be strCMD += _T("\\bin\\al_engine.exe "); or strCMD += _T("\\bin\\al_engine.exe \\");

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Belyy, Andrey 1 Reputation point

2021-02-02T05:59:57.593+00:00

In origin it's ok - just because copy/paste/limitation of 1000 chars.
The code worked for years, and still ok everywhere but fails on one Windows 2016 system

Drake Wu - MSFT 991 Reputation points

2021-02-02T06:29:22.333+00:00

Hi @Belyy, Andrey First of all, can you create a simple exe to replace your al_engine.exe to see if CreateProcess executes successfully, if there is no problem, then you need check the dependencies of al_engine.exe to see if they are all 64-bit.

Belyy, Andrey 1 Reputation point

2021-02-02T06:37:51.91+00:00

Everything works just fine everywhere else.
The command passed to the CreateProcess(...) call executes just fine in the command line on the same system, but fails from the executable.

Belyy, Andrey 1 Reputation point

2021-02-02T06:40:45.717+00:00

and yes, simple executable fails too

Belyy, Andrey 1 Reputation point

2021-02-02T06:41:39.047+00:00

is it possible to have join session on Teams to see the issue on customer site?

Drake Wu - MSFT 991 Reputation points

2021-02-02T07:05:50.443+00:00

Sorry, we only provide forum support. You can record and publish a video or animated picture. I can’t reproduce your problem with your sample, your code looks okay. May I ask whether the windows 2016 server, al_engine.exe and application are all 64-bit? And if you double-click to execute it in the file explorer, will there be the same error?
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Belyy, Andrey 1 Reputation point

2021-02-08T05:03:11.883+00:00

The same command executes just fine in cmd.com . Checked many times. It has something to do with environment
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Application fails in CreateProcess(...) call on Windows 2016 Server

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