Downloading MFC Debug Information

Getting MFC PDBs From Windows Symbol Cache

Downloading MFC PDBs Using Microsoft Visual Studio

Downloading MFC PDBs Using Debugging Tools for Windows

Some versions of Microsoft Visual Studio install MFC PDBs to the C:\Windows\Symbols\dll folder. If you have this folder, you can copy the needed MFC PDBs from there. Or you can ask the application developers to give you these files stored on their development computer.

• Launch your tested application.

• Run the following command in Windows Command Prompt:

  tasklist /m mfc*

  You will see the following output:

  Image Name           PID Modules
  =============== ======== ==========
  MyApp.exe           6068 mfc110.dll

  Note down the DLL name and whether it has the u and/or d suffixes (u means Unicode and d means debug version).

• Find the matching PDB file in the C:\Windows\symbols\dll folder. If your application is 32-bit, look for the file name ending with .i386.pdb, if it is 64-bit - with .amd64.pdb.

  Examples:

  • For a 32-bit application that uses mfc110.dll, you need the mfc110.i386.pdb file.
  • For a 64-bit application that uses mfc90u.dll, you need the mfc90u.amd64.pdb file.

• Copy this PDB file to your application’s folder.

• Create a folder (for example, C:\Symbols) to save the downloaded debug information.

• From Visual Studio’s main menu, select Tools | Options and then select the Debugging | Symbols category.

• Make sure the Symbol file (.pdb) locations list contains one of the following items and that the item is checked:

  • Microsoft Symbol Servers
  • http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols

  If none are on the list, add the http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols item and check it.

• In the Cache symbols in this directory text box, enter the path to the folder you have created (in our example - C:\Symbols).

• Click OK to close the Options dialog.

• Launch your tested application.

• From Visual Studio’s main menu, select Tools | Attach to Process.

• Select your application in the list and click Attach. Wait until the debug information is loaded.

• In the C:\Symbols folder, find all the subfolders named mfcNNN.pdb.

• Copy the PDB files from these subfolders to your application folder.

The size of the PDB file must be more than 10 MB. If you get a smaller file, ask the application developers to give you the corresponding file from their Windows symbol cache (see above).

• Install Debugging Tools for Windows if you do not have them yet:

  • Open this page and scroll down to the Standalone Debugging Tools for Windows (WinDbg) section:

    http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/hh852365

  • Download and install standalone debugging tools for your Windows version.

    In the installation program, select only the Debugging Tools for Windows item and unselect the other items.

• Create a folder (for example, C:\Symbols) to save the downloaded debug information.

• Launch your tested application.

• Run the following command (on one line) in Windows Command Prompt. Make sure that you have replaced the highlighted values with the path to your Debugging Tools, with the application’s file name and with the path to the debug information folder.

  "C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows\symchk" /ie MyApp.exe /s SRV*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols

  Wait until the command execution is complete.

• In the C:\Symbols folder, find all the subfolders named mfcNNN.pdb.

• Copy the PDB files from these subfolders to your application folder.

The size of the PDB file must be more than 10 MB. If you get a smaller file, ask the application developers to give you the corresponding file from their Windows symbol cache (see above).