This problem was found in boost 1.33.1 using VC++ 8.0. I haven't tried 1.34.0, but the cmdline code seems unchanged. from cmdline.cpp -------------------------------------- std::vector<option> cmdline::parse_long_option(std::vector<string>& args) { vector<option> result; const std::string& tok = args[0]; if (tok.size() >= 3 && tok[0] == '-' && tok[1] == '-') { string name, adjacent; string::size_type p = tok.find('='); if (p != tok.npos) { name = tok.substr(2, p-2); adjacent = tok.substr(p+1); if (adjacent.empty()) throw invalid_command_line_syntax(name, invalid_command_line_syntax::empty_adjacent_parameter); } else { name = tok.substr(2); } option opt; opt.string_key = name; if (!adjacent.empty()) opt.value.push_back(adjacent); opt.original_tokens.push_back(tok); result.push_back(opt); args.erase(args.begin()); } return result; } -------------------------------------- The line args.erase(args.begin()); crashes in MS VC++ 8.0 in release optimized configuration, though it works fine in debug mode. Could this be a compiler problem with loop unrolling and the const std::string& tok = args[0]; reference ? As seen in the stack trace, std::vector::erase tries to copy a "Bad Ptr" string and obviously fails miserably. Interestingly the program hangs in std::_Distance2 if I provide no command line arguments (it looks like a very long bad pointer loop, not an infinite loop). I might try recompiling boost with different compile options, but it is quite time consuming to experiment with. best regards Søren Holstebroe Code: namespace po = boost::program_options; po::options_description desc("Allowed options"); desc.add_options() ("help", "produce help message") ; po::variables_map vm; po::store(po::parse_command_line(argc, argv, desc), vm); po::notify(vm); Stack trace:

msvcr80.dll!memcpy(unsigned char * dst=0x00c20048, unsigned char * src=0xabababab, unsigned long count=458755) Line 188 Asm msvcr80.dll!memcpy_s(void * dst=0x00c20048, unsigned int sizeInBytes=458767, const void * src=0xabababab, unsigned int count=458755) Line 67 + 0xc bytes C msvcp80.dll!std::char_traits<char>::_Copy_s(char * _First1=0x00c20048, unsigned int _Size_in_bytes=458767, const char * _First2=0xabababab, unsigned int _Count=458755) Line 576 C++ msvcp80.dll!std::basic_string::assign(const std::basic_string & _Right=<Bad Ptr>, unsigned int _Roff=0, unsigned int _Count=4294967295) Line 1059 + 0x2c bytes C++ msvcp80.dll!std::basic_string::operator=(const std::basic_string & _Right=<Bad Ptr>) Line 1044 C++ PS.Vision.Console.exe!std::_Copy_opt *,std::basic_string *>() + 0x4a bytes C++ PS.Vision.Console.exe!std::vector,std::allocator > >::erase() + 0x2d bytes C++ PS.Vision.Console.exe!boost::program_options::detail::cmdline::parse_long_option() + 0x28e bytes C++ PS.Vision.Console.exe!boost::_mfi::mf1 >,boost::program_options::detail::cmdline,std::vector,std::allocator > > &>::operator()() + 0x40 bytes C++ PS.Vision.Console.exe!boost::_bi::list2,boost::arg<1> >::operator() >,boost::_mfi::mf1 >,boost::program_options::detail::cmdline,std::vector,std::allocator > > &>,boost::_bi::list1,std::allocator > > &> >() + 0x22 bytes C++ PS.Vision.Console.exe!boost::_bi::bind_t >,boost::_mfi::mf1 >,boost::program_options::detail::cmdline,std::vector,std::allocator > > &>,boost::_bi::list2,boost::arg<1> > >::operator(),std::allocator > > >() + 0x2d bytes C++ PS.Vision.Console.exe!boost::detail::function::function_obj_invoker1 >,boost::_mfi::mf1 >,boost::program_options::detail::cmdline,std::vector,std::allocator > > &>,boost::_bi::list2,boost::arg<1> > >,std::vector >,std::vector,std::allocator > > &>::invoke() + 0x1d bytes C++ PS.Vision.Console.exe!boost::function1 >,std::vector,std::allocator > > &,std::allocatorboost::function_base >::operator()() + 0x5b bytes C++ PS.Vision.Console.exe!boost::program_options::detail::cmdline::run() + 0x371 bytes C++ PS.Vision.Console.exe!boost::program_options::basic_command_line_parser::run() Line 102 + 0x12 bytes C++ PS.Vision.Console.exe!boost::program_options::parse_command_line(int argc=5, wchar_t * * argv=0x003b5718, const boost::program_options::options_description & desc={...}, int style=0, boost::function1,std::basic_string >,std::basic_string const &,std::allocatorboost::function_base > ext={...}) Line 119 + 0x9d bytes C++