Related to this question, what is the best practice for naming a mutex? I realize this may vary with OS and even with version (esp for Windows), so please specify platform in answering. My interest is in Win XP and Vista. EDIT: I am motivated by curiousity, because in Rob Kennedy's comment under his (excellent) Answer to the above-linked Question, he implied that the choice of mutex name is non-trivial and should be the subject of a separate question. EDIT2: The referenced question's goal was to ensure only a single instance of an app is running.