ZERO FOOTPRINT METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EXPANDING ALLOCATED MEMORY SPACE OF A PROCESS USING A VIRTUAL MEMORY AREA

The invention is an apparatus and computer method for controlling the operation of a computer running under an operating system such as WINDOWS.RTM. 95 and WINDOWS.RTM. NT operating system, or their like, that do not require a footprint in the programs running under the operating system. A program, hereinafter referred to as CrashGuard.TM., is stored and installed in a computer thereby being established as the "debugger" in the user's systems. Once so established CrashGuard.TM. may be stored elsewhere then the computer memory. Whenever a fatal error occurs the "Just in Time" debugging facility of the WINDOWS.RTM. 95 and WINDOWS.RTM. NT operating system, or their like, will suspend the target program, will load CrashGuard.TM. as the designated "debugger" into memory space not allocated to the target program, identifies the target program to CrashGuard.TM. and executes CrashGuard.TM.. CrashGuard.TM. will cause additional memory space to be added to the virtual memory of the target program. Thereafter CrashGuard.TM. will store into the additional memory space a routine that will allow the user to take such actions as to execute a Save or Save As command thereby not losing data that would otherwise have been lost.