Installing Debugging Tools and Setting Up a Virtual Machine

When developing Windows drivers, stability and safety are crucial. A buggy driver can bring down the entire operating system, making proper debugging tools and a safe testing environment essential.

Installing Debugging Tools

Why Debugging Tools are Needed

Drivers operate in kernel mode with full system privileges. If something goes wrong, the whole system can crash (Blue Screen of Death). Debugging tools let you:

• Inspect the kernel state when a crash happens.
• Step through driver code to identify issues.
• Analyze crash dumps (.dmp files).
• Test safely without guesswork.

Microsoft provides WinDbg, the standard debugger for driver development.

Installing WinDbg

There are two main options:

Option 1: WinDbg Preview (Recommended)

• Modern UI with improved usability.
• Installed directly from the Microsoft Store.
• Supports both user-mode and kernel-mode debugging.

Steps:

1. Open Microsoft Store.
2. Search for WinDbg Preview.
3. Click Get to install.

Option 2: WinDbg (Classic)

• Older interface but very reliable.
• Comes with the Windows SDK.

Steps:

Setting Up a Virtual Machine for Driver Testing

Preparing the VM for Driver Testing

Enable Test Signing Mode

Since development drivers are unsigned, enable Test Mode inside the VM:

bcedit /set testsigning on

Restart, and you should see “Test Mode” watermark on the desktop at the bottom right corner.