LiveKd: The Ultimate Guide to Debugging Tools for Windows

How to Download and Use LiveKD.exe to Debug a Live System

If you are interested in debugging a live Windows system, you may have heard of LiveKD.exe, a utility that allows you to run the Microsoft kernel debuggers locally on a live system. In this article, you will learn what LiveKD.exe is, how to download and install it, and how to use it to create a memory dump or run the kernel debuggers on your system. You will also see some examples and screenshots of using LiveKD.exe in action.

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What is LiveKD.exe?

A brief introduction to LiveKD.exe and its features

LiveKD.exe is a utility that was written by Mark Russinovich and Ken Johnson for the CD included with Inside Windows 2000, 3rd Edition, and is now freely available from the Sysinternals website. LiveKD.exe allows you to run the Kd and Windbg Microsoft kernel debuggers, which are part of the Debugging Tools for Windows package, locally on a live system. This means that you can execute all the debugger commands that work on crash dump files to look deep inside the system, without having to reboot or crash the system.

Some of the features and benefits of using LiveKD.exe are:

• It does not require system shutdown or reboot.

• It supports both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows systems.

• It can create a kernel or full memory dump of the system.

• It can run the kernel debuggers on a Hyper-V virtual machine.

• It can access more functionality than Windbg and Kd's own live kernel debugging facility, such as viewing thread stacks with the !thread command.

How to download and install LiveKD.exe and its prerequisites

To use LiveKD.exe, you need to download and install two components: the Debugging Tools for Windows package and the LiveKD.zip file. Here are the steps to do so:

• Download and run Windows SDK installer from [this link](^8^).

• Click "Next" and "Accept" buttons in the installation wizard until reaching features selection screen.

• Mark only Debugging Tools for Windows when prompted which components to install. Uncheck all other components.

• Proceed with the installation of Windows SDK.

• Download and unpack [LiveKD.zip](^4^) from [this link](^1^).

• Open Windows Start menu.

• Type cmd, right-click the found Command Prompt and select "Run as administrator".

• Change the current directory to the extracted LiveKD folder: cd "<path to the extracted LiveKD folder>" for example: cd "C:\\LiveKD"

How to use LiveKD.exe to create a kernel or full memory dump

The difference between a kernel and a full memory dump

A memory dump is a snapshot of the physical memory of a computer at a given point in time. It can be used for debugging purposes, such as analyzing the state of the system, finding the root cause of an error, or identifying malicious code. There are different types of memory dumps, but the most common ones are kernel and full memory dumps. A kernel memory dump contains only the kernel-mode memory of the system, which includes the kernel, the most important drivers, and some other critical components. A full memory dump contains the entire physical memory of the system, which includes the user-mode memory of all the processes and applications running on the system. A full memory dump is larger than a kernel memory dump, but it also provides more information for debugging.

The commands and options for creating a memory dump with LiveKD.exe

To create a memory dump with LiveKD.exe, you need to use the -w option, which tells LiveKD.exe to write a memory dump file instead of launching the kernel debugger. You also need to specify the name and path of the memory dump file, and optionally, the type of the memory dump. The syntax of the command is:

livekd -w <memory dump file> [-ml -mh -mf]

The -ml option creates a small memory dump, which contains only the basic information about the system, such as the processor registers and the list of loaded modules. The -mh option creates a kernel memory dump, which contains only the kernel-mode memory of the system. The -mf option creates a full memory dump, which contains the entire physical memory of the system. If you do not specify any of these options, LiveKD.exe will create a kernel memory dump by default.

The steps and screenshots for creating a memory dump with LiveKD.exe

Here are the steps and screenshots for creating a kernel memory dump with LiveKD.exe:

• Open an elevated command prompt and change the current directory to the extracted LiveKD folder.

• Type livekd -w C:\kerneldump.dmp and press Enter. This will create a kernel memory dump file named kerneldump.dmp in the C: drive.

• Wait for LiveKD.exe to finish writing the memory dump file. You will see a progress indicator and a message when it is done.

Here is an example screenshot of creating a kernel memory dump with LiveKD.exe:

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Here are the steps and screenshots for creating a full memory dump with LiveKD.exe:

• Open an elevated command prompt and change the current directory to the extracted LiveKD folder.

• Type livekd -w C:\fulldump.dmp -mf and press Enter. This will create a full memory dump file named fulldump.dmp in the C: drive.

• Wait for LiveKD.exe to finish writing the memory dump file. You will see a progress indicator and a message when it is done.

Here is an example screenshot of creating a full memory dump with LiveKD.exe:

How to use LiveKD.exe to run the kernel debuggers locally

The benefits of running the kernel debuggers locally on a live system

Running the kernel debuggers locally on a live system with LiveKD.exe has several advantages over other methods of kernel debugging, such as using a serial cable, a FireWire cable, or a network connection. Some of these advantages are:

• It does not require any hardware or software configuration on the target system, such as setting up the debugging mode, the baud rate, or the IP address.

• It does not affect the performance or stability of the target system, as it does not use any resources or interrupt the normal operation of the system.

• It does not require any physical access to the target system, as it can be done remotely via a network connection or a remote desktop session.

• It allows you to use all the features and commands of the kernel debuggers, such as setting breakpoints, viewing registers, disassembling code, dumping memory, and loading symbols.

The commands and options for running the kernel debuggers with LiveKD.exe

To run the kernel debuggers with LiveKD.exe, you need to use one of the following options: -k for Kd, -w for Windbg, or -c for Cdb. You also need to specify the path of the kernel debugger executable file, which is usually located in the Debugging Tools for Windows folder. The syntax of the command is:

livekd [-k -w -c] <path to kernel debugger>

For example, to run Windbg with LiveKD.exe, you can type:

livekd -w "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x64\windbg.exe"

You can also use some additional options to customize the behavior of LiveKD.exe and the kernel debugger. For example, you can use the -o option to enable overwrite mode, which allows you to run LiveKD.exe multiple times without having to close the previous instance of the kernel debugger. You can use the -v option to enable verbose mode, which displays more information about the operation of LiveKD.exe. You can use the -s option to specify a symbol path for the kernel debugger, which is useful for resolving symbols and source code information. You can use the -z option to specify a memory dump file for the kernel debugger to open instead of using the live system memory. For a full list of options and their descriptions, you can type livekd -? or refer to [this link].

The steps and screenshots for running the kernel debuggers with LiveKD.exe

Here are the steps and screenshots for running Windbg with LiveKD.exe:

• Open an elevated command prompt and change the current directory to the extracted LiveKD folder.

• Type livekd -w "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x64\windbg.exe" and press Enter. This will launch Windbg and connect it to the live system.

• Wait for Windbg to load the symbols and initialize the debugging session. You will see a message when it is ready.

• Type .reload /f and press Enter. This will force Windbg to reload all the symbols from the live system.

• Type !process 0 0 and press Enter. This will display a list of all the processes running on the system.

• Type !thread 0 0 and press Enter. This will display a list of all the threads running on the system.

• Type !vm 1 and press Enter. This will display a summary of the virtual memory usage on the system.

• Type any other commands that you want to execute on the live system. You can refer to [this link] for a reference of Windbg commands.

Here is an example screenshot of running Windbg with LiveKD.exe:

Conclusion

A summary of the main points and benefits of using LiveKD.exe

In this article, you have learned how to download and use LiveKD.exe, a utility that allows you to run the Microsoft kernel debuggers locally on a live system. You have seen how to create a kernel or full memory dump of the system, and how to run the kernel debuggers on the system. You have also seen some examples and screenshots of using LiveKD.exe in action.

Using LiveKD.exe has many benefits, such as not requiring any hardware or software configuration, not affecting the performance or stability of the system, not requiring any physical access to the system, and allowing you to use all the features and commands of the kernel debuggers. LiveKD.exe is a powerful and convenient tool for debugging a live Windows system, and you can use it to analyze the state of the system, find the root cause of an error, or identify malicious code.

A call to action for the readers to try LiveKD.exe themselves

If you are interested in debugging a live Windows system, you should definitely try LiveKD.exe yourself. You can download it for free from the Sysinternals website, and you can also find more information and documentation about it there. You can also download the Debugging Tools for Windows package, which contains the kernel debuggers and other useful tools for debugging. You can also refer to [this link] for a tutorial on how to use LiveKD.exe and the kernel debuggers.

LiveKD.exe is a great utility that can help you debug a live system without any hassle. It is easy to use, fast, and reliable. It can help you solve many problems and learn more about the inner workings of Windows. So what are you waiting for? Download LiveKD.exe today and start debugging!

FAQs

What is LiveKD.exe?

LiveKD.exe is a utility that allows you to run the Microsoft kernel debuggers locally on a live Windows system.

Where can I download LiveKD.exe?

You can download LiveKD.exe from the Sysinternals website.

What are the prerequisites for using LiveKD.exe?

You need to install the Debugging Tools for Windows package, which contains the kernel debuggers and other tools.

How can I create a memory dump with LiveKD.exe?

You need to use the -w option, specify the name and path of the memory dump file, and optionally, the type of the memory dump. For example, livekd -w C:\kerneldump.dmp -mh will create a kernel memory dump file named kerneldump.dmp in the C: drive.

How can I run the kernel debuggers with LiveKD.exe?

You need to use one of these options: -k for Kd, -w for Windbg, or -c for Cdb. You also need to specify the path of the kernel debugger executable file. For example, livekd -w "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x64\windbg.exe" will run Windbg with LiveKD.exe. 44f88ac181