How To Use Win Dbg

In some rare cases, programs running under the supervision of Sandboxie might not work correctly, without providing any hint to the cause of the malfunction. In these cases, Microsoft's free Debugging Tools for Windows can help to shed more light on the problem or even to identify the cause of the problem.

Download and install the latest release of Windows SDK (both 32-bit and 64-bit).

If you just need the Debugging Tools for Windows, you can install the debugging tools as a standalone component.

The package installs into C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers by default.

The package creates an application group called Windows Kits in the Windows Start menu. The application group contains the program WinDbg.

You probably should use the 32-bit debugger, even on 64-bit Windows. You only need to use the 64-bit debugger to debug 64-bit programs. For more information, see Choosing the 32-Bit or 64-Bit Debugging Tools.

Scenario 1: Start a program from the debugger

Start the debugger under Sandboxie by using the Sandboxie Start menu.

Then navigate the Sandboxie Start menu to locate and invoke the WinDbg program within the Windows Kits group.

The WinDbg debugger should start and open its main window.

In the debugger, invoke the File menu > Open Executable command. Then navigate to and select the EXE file for the program that you want to run in the debugger.

For example, navigate to and select C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe

The debugger will open a command window, to control (or to debug) the new program.

Use the Debug menu > Go command to begin the execution of the program. (You can also press F5.) At this time the debugger status line will change to say BUSY. Proceed to read the section below titled Final Step.

Scenario 2: Attach the debugger to a running program

In this scenario, you already used Sandboxie to start the program, and the program is already running.

Start the debugger normally from the Windows Start menu: Locate and invoke the WinDbg program within the Windows Kits group.

The WinDbg debugger should start and open its main window.

In the debugger, invoke the File menu > Attach to a Process command. (You can also press F6.) Then identify the EXE file for the program to which you want to attach the debugger.

The debugger will open a command window, to control (or to debug) the attached program.

If you attached to the a program after it was already exhibiting the problem, then proceed to read the section below titled Final Step.

Otherwise use the Debug menu > Go command to continue the execution of the program. (You can also press F5.) At this time the debugger status line will change to say BUSY. Proceed to read the section below titled Final Step.

Final Step

This section assumes the program in question has already exhibited the problem:

  • If the program gets stuck in a loop, then it should already be stuck.
  • If the program crashes, then it should already have crashed.

If the problem condition has not yet occurred, you should now cause the program to malfunction.

Once the program exhibits the problem, switch back to the WinDbg debugger command window. If the debugger status line still says BUSY, use the Debug menu > Break command to stop the program. (You can also press Ctrl+Break.)

When the debugger status line no longer says BUSY, enter the following commands. Enter one command at a time, then press Enter.

    .sympath srv*C:\Symbols*https://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
    .reload
    ~* k 99

The third command will cause the debugger to produce some output. When the command completes, please copy the entire debug log. Use the Edit menu > Copy Window Text to Clipboard command to copy the entire debug log to your clipboard, then go back to the Sandboxie support and paste this debug log into your comment.

Thank you in advance.