Analyze Dump Files (Compact 7)
3/12/2014
You can analyze dump files by using tools such as Platform Builder and Windows Debugger (WinDbg). To obtain the best results when you use these tools, the computer on which you debug the dump files must have access to the executable files (EXE and DLL files), the symbol files (PDB files), and the source code of the program that you are debugging. PDB files, which the linker generates when it creates EXE and DLL files, typically contain global variables, local variables, function names and the addresses of their entry points, and source code line numbers. If the debugger can find the symbols that correspond to the code that you are debugging, the debugger can open the source code file and display the line that caused the dump file to be captured. By using dump files, you can also view information such as the local variables, call stack, process list, and so on.
Note
Although you can obtain information about the state of a device by analyzing a dump file, a dump file cannot provide as much information as when you debug a crash directly by using the Kernel Debugger at the time the crash occurs.
In This Section
- Analyze Dump Files by Using Platform Builder
Describes how to open and analyze dump files by using Platform Builder.
- Analyze Dump Files by Using WinDbg
Describes how to open and analyze dump files by using Windows Debugger (WinDbg), which is available as part of the Debugging Tools for Windows.