The Old New Thing

2 min read Original article ↗

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Apr 24, 2026

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Defending against exceptions in a scope_exit RAII type

Raymond Chen

But maybe it's not worth it.

Apr 23, 2026

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Another crash caused by uninstaller code injection into Explorer

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Inadvertently destroying a staircase while standing on it.

Apr 22, 2026

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Mapping the page tables into memory via the page tables

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So-called "fractal page mapping".

Apr 21, 2026

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Sure, xor’ing a register with itself is the idiom for zeroing it out, but why not sub?

Raymond Chen

Somehow xor became the most popular version.

Apr 20, 2026

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How did code handle 24-bit-per-pixel formats when using video cards with bank-switched memory?

Raymond Chen

You still have to use aligned accesses, even though the pixels might not be aligned.

Apr 17, 2026

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Forgotten message from the past: LB_INIT­STORAGE

Raymond Chen

Preallocating memory to avoid quadratic behavior.

Apr 16, 2026

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What’s up with window message 0x0091? We’re getting it with unexpected parameters

Raymond Chen

Trespassing on system messages.

Apr 15, 2026

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Why is there a long delay between a thread exiting and the Wait­For­Single­Object returning?

Raymond Chen

Maybe it didn't really exit.

Apr 14, 2026

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Why was there a red telephone at every receptionist desk?

Raymond Chen

Not a direct line to Bill Gates's office.

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