I dont have the knowledge of the inner coding of the archives... but as far as I understood the issue come from theses lines : if(3 < ar.get_library_version()) ar >> BOOST_SERIALIZATION_NVP(item_version); in the vector.hpp header file (load method) would it be possible to surround these lines with a try catch block in a way like this : try { if(3 < ar.get_library_version()) ar >> BOOST_SERIALIZATION_NVP(item_version); } catch(...) { do something to reset the state of the archive before the ar >> BOOST_SERIALIZATION_NVP(item_version); attempt } Is it something possible or am i just a dreamer ? would it have some performance impact ? In such a case maybe it could be a choice to have a full compatible library with an #ifdef code selection mechanism... I hope this proposal is not too ridiculous.... Regards, Mathieu -- http://www.incub.net/