"ERROR 23: Out of resources when opening "

[torny]

Hi everyone!

I am running a Mysql 3.23.53 Service on a Win2k PC since 1 1/2 months. It ran very well, but 2 weeks ago it started to 'crash' from time to time.

It all begins with a strange message telling me I ran out of resource, when I try to execute a sql command:
mysql>[root@10.0.3.9:3306] ERROR 23: Out of resources when opening file '.\hollebolle\agzs.MYD' (Errcode: 24)

I tried to check&repair the tables, but it didn't worked.
Having a look at the status vars (SHOW VARIABLES) showed me that my system was using about 400 million filehandles (whereas I do not think so).

The error codes pointed to the same:
shell>perror 23
Error code 23: Too many open files in system

shell>perror 24
Error code 24: Too many open files

But there where no other processes in MySQL except for mine, which i just created to check things.

Does anyone has an idea on how this could be?

Thanks in advance,

Torny