Scrolling background??

Im using Visual C++ 2005 to program a 2D spaceship navigating across a scrolling background. The background is a simple picture, which I have copied and pasted a few times to extend it in paint.

It worked fine when it was 7mb. But, now that it is 18mb the mountains are now just flat lines stretching across the screen.

Is there a limit to the size of the picture that one can used?

Why do you use one large picture to be the background? I suggest you look into tiles for 2D scrolling background games. And yes different libraries/drivers have different limits on how big of a texture you can have.

Hmmmmm...tiles then. I'll look into that. Thanks!