Starting the Debugging Session

In this documentation of how to control user-mode debugging from the kernel debugger, target application refers to the user-mode application that is being debugged, target computer refers to the computer that contains the target application and the NTSD or CDB process, and host computer refers to the computer that contains the kernel debugger.

To begin using this technique, you must do the following. You can do steps 1 and 2 in either order.

1. Start NTSD or CDB on the target computer, with the -d command-line option.

   For example, you can attach to a running process by using the following syntax.

   ntsd -d [-y UserSymbolPath] -p PID 
   

   Or, you can start a new process as the target by using the following syntax.

   ntsd -d [-y UserSymbolPath] ApplicationName 
   

   If you are installing this as a postmortem debugger, you would use the following syntax.

   ntsd -d [-y UserSymbolPath] 
   

   For more information about this step, see Attaching to a Running Process (User Mode) or Spawning a New Process (User Mode).

2. Start WinDbg or KD on the host computer, as if you were going to debug the target computer, but do not actually break in to the target computer. To use WinDbg, use the folloinwg syntax.

   windbg [-y KernelSymbolPath] [-k ConnectionOptions] 
   

   For more information about this step, see Attaching to a Target Computer (Kernel Mode).

3. If you have not set the user-mode symbol path, set it from the Input> prompt. If you have not set the kernel-mode symbol path, set it from the kd> prompt. For information on how to access these prompts and to switch between modes, see Switching Modes.

If you use CDB, the Command Prompt window that is associated with CDB remains locked and unavailable while debugging continues. If you use NTSD, no additional window is created, even though NTSD has a process ID associated with it on the target computer.

If you want to run the user-mode debugger from the kernel debugger while also using it as a debugging server, see Combining This Method with Remote Debugging.