Adplus is a tool provided by Microsoft that helps on troubleshooting any process or application fail or hang( in Microsoft's term crash and hang). It automates the CDB debugger to produce memory dumps and log files that contain debug output from one or more processes.
Installation
First you need to Download and install the latest windows debug tools commonly available on the Microsoft web site where the hang is occurring.
Debugging Tools for Windows 32-bit Version (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/installx86.mspx)
Debugging Tools for Windows 64-bit Versions
(http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/install64bit.mspx)
Next you might need to consider to download and install Symbols Package for the OS you troubleshooting. Symbol files hold a variety of data which are not actually needed when running the binaries, but which could be very useful in the debugging process.
Typically, symbol files might contain:
- Global variables
- Local variables
- Function names and the addresses of their entry points
- FPO data
- Source-line numbers
When to Use Adplus
You should use ADPlus to capture debugging information if you are experiencing the following problems:
- Processes that stop responding (that is, hang).
- Processes that have 100 % CPU utilization on a single processor computer, 50 % utilization on a dual processor computer, 25 % utilization on a quad processor computer, and so on.
- Processes that fail (that is, crash) or shut down unexpectedly.
Setting up ADPlus Debugging Mode
ADPlus has two modes of operation:
- You can use hang mode to troubleshoot processes that stop responding (that is, hang), 100 % CPU utilization, and other problems that do not involve a failure (that is, crash). When you use ADPlus in hang mode, you must wait until the process stops responding before you run the script.
- You can use crash mode to troubleshoot failures that typically activate a postmortem debugger or any other type of error that causes an application or service to end unexpectedly. When you use ADPlus in crash mode, you must start ADPlus before the failure occurs. You can configure ADPlus by using the -notify option to notify an administrator or a computer of a failure.
To run ADPlus,
1. Open command prompt ("Run"=> "cmd")
2. move to the folder where you installed or copied the debuggers, the default path for the installation is "C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows"
3. Type ADPlus
4. You might be prompted to change your default script interpreter from WScript.exe to CScript.exe. Select register Cscript.exe as default script interpreter for VBScript
![[Windows-Tutor]-ADPlus-Crash-Analysis---Step-by-Step-Guide-1 [Windows-Tutor]-ADPlus-Crash-Analysis---Step-by-Step-Guide-1](/./images/stories/windows/[Windows-Tutor]-ADPlus-Crash-Analysis---Step-by-Step-Guide-1.gif)
Picture-1 Register Cscript.exe as default script interpreter for VBScript
5. At the command prompt start debugging. e.g.
ADPlus -crash -pn dxdmservice.exe
This command runs ADPlus in crash mode and produces full memory dumps of all processes that are named dxdmservices.exe ( This is EMC Diskxtender Service)
6. Debugging job Summary.
![[Windows-Tutor]-ADPlus-Crash-Analysis---Step-by-Step-Guide-2 [Windows-Tutor]-ADPlus-Crash-Analysis---Step-by-Step-Guide-2](/./images/stories/windows/[Windows-Tutor]-ADPlus-Crash-Analysis---Step-by-Step-Guide-2.gif)
Picture-2 Debugging job Summary
You will be prompt for below message if your Symbols Package is not setup properly, please be sure to verify System Variables and make sure "_NT_SYMBOL_PATH" is set to your symbols path on your system.
![[Windows-Tutor]-ADPlus-Crash-Analysis---Step-by-Step-Guide-3 [Windows-Tutor]-ADPlus-Crash-Analysis---Step-by-Step-Guide-3](/./images/stories/windows/[Windows-Tutor]-ADPlus-Crash-Analysis---Step-by-Step-Guide-3.gif)
Picture-3 Symbols Package Environment Path not Set warning message