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Debugging Tools for NT-Based Operating Systems

The Microsoft® Windows® DDK includes the Debugging Tools for Windows package. This package contains four debuggers:

The debuggers in the Debugging Tools for Windows package can run on all NT-based operating systems. They can debug any applications, services, or drivers that run on these operating systems. They do not support Windows 95/98/Me.

The Debugging Tools for Windows package includes documentation on WinDbg, KD, CDB, and NTSD, along with tips on how to debug various kinds of drivers and applications, how to create and analyze a crash dump file, how to run a remote debugging session, and how to use debugger extension commands. This package also includes several additional debugging tools and support tools.

Which debugger you use depends on the type of driver you're debugging and the target operating system. WinDbg and KD are most commonly used to debug drivers on NT-based operating systems.

In addition, the Microsoft Visual Studio® debugger can be used to debug user-mode programs on all Windows operating systems. See the Visual Studio documentation for details on this debugger.

Installing the Debuggers

To install Debugging Tools for Windows from the Windows DDK, start the DDK setup program and look for the link on the DDK installation splash screen. Selecting this link will let you install the debuggers to a location of your choice.

You can also download the latest version of the Debugging Tools for Windows package from the Debugging Tools Web site. This package is often updated, and includes the latest debuggers, debugger extensions, and documentation.

After the installation is complete, the debugger shortcuts can be found in Start | Programs | Debugging Tools for Windows.