Knowledge Base

Windows Err Msg: The Program Group File Has Been Modified

Article ID: 105216

Article Last Modified on 10/10/2003

Microsoft Windows 3.1 Standard Edition
Microsoft Windows 3.11 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q105216

SYMPTOMS

You may receive the following error message when you exit Windows 3.1 in 386 enhanced mode:

Group File Error
The program group file has been modified by another program or user and will be reloaded; try the operation again.

Choosing the OK button has no effect; the only course of action is to reboot your machine.

NOTE: This error has not been reproduced in standard mode.

CAUSE

This problem can be caused by either of the following:

Two groups with the same name exist in the [Groups] section of the PROGMAN.INI file. For example:
```
      [Groups]
      Group9=c:\win\apps.grp
      Group8=c:\win\apps.grp
						
```
Two groups with the same number exist in the [Groups] section of the PROGMAN.INI file. For example:
```
      [Groups]
      Group7=c:\win\apps.grp
      Group7=c:\win\main.grp
						
```

RESOLUTION

Exit Windows and open the PROGMAN.INI file in a text editor, such as MS-DOS Editor.
Remove any duplicate group name(s), and/or change any duplicate group number(s) in the [Groups] section.
Modify the ORDER= line in the [Settings] section so that there are no duplicate or extra numbers.

If there are no duplicate groups names or group numbers, rename the PROGMAN.INI file and then rebuild the file. For instructions on rebuilding the PROGMAN.INI file, query in the Microsoft Knowledge Base on the following words:

progman.ini and rebuild and groups and setup

Additional query words: 3.10 3.1 3.11

Keywords: KB105216