Can anyone reproduce this crash?

[Alf P. Steinbach]

* MRAB:
> Alf P. Steinbach wrote:
>> Python 3.1.1 in Windows XP Prof:
>>
>>
>> <code filename="sum.v4.py" language="Py3">
>> def number_from_user( prompt ):
>>     while True:
>>         spec = input( prompt )
>>         try:
>>             return float( spec )
>>         except ValueError:
>>             s = "Sorry, '{}' is not a valid number spec. Try e.g. 
>> '3.14'."
>>             print( s.format( spec ) )
>>             print()
>>
>> print( "This program computes the sum of two numbers A and B." )
>> print()
>> a = number_from_user( "Number A, please: " )
>> b = number_from_user( "Number B, please: " )
>> sum = a + b
>> print()
>> print( "{} + {} = {}".format( a, b, sum ) )
>> </code>
>>
>>
>> To be thorough I tested the reaction to typing [Ctrl C] at the first 
>> prompt. It then displayed the first part of traceback output,
>>
>>
>> <output part="1">
>> C:\Documents and Settings\Alf> sum.v4.py
>> This program computes the sum of two numbers A and B.
>>
>> Number A, please: Traceback (most recent call last):
>> </output>
>>
>>
>> and seemingly hung for, I don't know, 20 seconds?, whereupon 
>> Microsoft's "Please tell Bill Gates about it" box popped up; the 
>> interpreter had crashed.
>>
>> Regretfully declining the offer to tell Bill Gates, and this I don't 
>> quite understand, possibly buffer thing?, one more line of output then 
>> appeared:
>>
>>
>> <output part="2">
>>   File "C:\Documents and Settings\Alf\sum.v4.py", line 13, in <module>
>>
>> C:\Documents and Settings\Alf> _
>> </output>
>>
>>
>> In a normal traceback there are four more lines.
>>
>> I thought I'd report this so I tried it several times more but unable 
>> to reproduce: instead of above hang + crash + truncated traceback the 
>> complete expected traceback appeared and the program terminated properly.
>>
>> Can anyone reproduce?
>>
> I also have Python 3.1.1 on Windows XP Professional, but it doesn't
> crash for me!
> 
> Does it happen every time?

No, that's the problem, I'm unable to reproduce consistently or nearly at all.

It just happened again (that's the second time), and this time I chose "Debug", 
firing up Visual Studio 2003 as the Just-In-Time debugger. However, and this has 
/never/ happened before, Visual Studio did not manage to catch the process state 
and reported the program as terminated.

Here's the contents of the Visual Studio output pane:


<vsinfo>
'python.exe': Loaded 'C:\Program Files\cpython\python31\python.exe', No symbols 
loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 'C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll', No symbols loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 'C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\kernel32.dll', No symbols loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 'C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\python31.dll', No symbols loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 'C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\user32.dll', No symbols loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 'C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\gdi32.dll', No symbols loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 'C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\advapi32.dll', No symbols loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 'C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\rpcrt4.dll', No symbols loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 'C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\shell32.dll', No symbols loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 'C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\msvcrt.dll', No symbols loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 'C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\shlwapi.dll', No symbols loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 
'C:\WINDOWS\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.VC90.CRT_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.30729.1_x-ww_6f74963e\msvcr90.dll', 
No symbols loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 'C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\imm32.dll', No symbols loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 
'C:\WINDOWS\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls_6595b64144ccf1df_6.0.2600.2982_x-ww_ac3f9c03\comctl32.dll', 
No symbols loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 'C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\comctl32.dll', No symbols loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 'C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\version.dll', No symbols loaded.
'python.exe': Loaded 'C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\apphelp.dll', No symbols loaded.
The thread 'Win32 Thread' (0xd54) has exited with code -1073740777 (0xc0000417).
The program '[3292] python.exe: Native' has exited with code -1073740777 
(0xc0000417).
</vsinfo>


The error code 0xc0000417 is some custom one, not a standard Windows code.

The crash address reported by the tell-Bill box was a low one with four zeroes 
at front, but I didn't note it because that box doesn't support copy to 
clipboard and I was sure I'd get it in Visual Studio, which I didn't.

Is there any DLL above that shouldn't be there, like malware (it's the only 
thing I can think of, a program shouldn't retain state between invocations)?


Cheers,

- Alf