Getting windbg without the whole WDK? [closed]

Question

Does anyone know how to get ahold of windbg without having to download the entire 620MB WDK ISO?

All I can find on the net to download the debugger is this link, which says you have to get the whole WDK: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/default.mspx.

Hakan

Someone posted this: rxwen.blogspot.sg/2010/04/standalone-windbg-v6120002633.html – Epicycle

For Windows 8.1: Go 'developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/… . Ctrl F "Get (WinDbg) as part of Windows 8.1 SDK". Select WinDbg only in the installation. – Epicycle

See github.com/yanglr/advDotnetDebugging/blob/main/… ; github.com/yanglr/advDotnetDebugging/blob/main/… ; github.com/yanglr/advDotnetDebugging/blob/main/… – Campeche

Answer 1

Actually, Microsoft has now made the Debugging Tools downloadable separately from the SDK. Look for the section "Standalone Debugging Tools for Windows (WinDbg)" about mid-page:

• for Windows 8.1

• for Windows 10

Slice

As eightx2 clarifies below, the web installer for the Windows SDK has the option to install the Debugging Tools for Windows without downloading the rest. – Rattoon

This isn't valid anymore, as the link now redirects to the WDK download site. The windbg MSI package hovewer can be downloaded directly, as @Wu Yongzheng pointed out. – Terpineol

The WDK download site now has a section for downloading the Debugging Tools standalone - msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/hh852365 – Slice

currently webpage with link, says it's for win 8.1 but works fine on win7. it says it requires 1.2GB but click through a few windows and it has an option to install just windbg about 250MB. The file, at least as of writing, is sdksetup.exe – Angelicaangelico

This is once again invalid, and now the WDK is again the only way to legit download it again. – Haskell

Answer 2

Officially, you can't. But someone's been extracting them for your convenience and hosting them.

Note: You can get the older releases on the official site, but the latest ones are part of the WDK.

Bogie

It seems the link does not provide WinDbg downloads any more. – Cletus

This was a decision made by Microsoft a couple yrs ago. After receiving a lot of complaints about having the Debugging Tools no longer available as standalone, they decided to add it back. See my answer above for the OP's question for the location of the download. – Slice

They're still on that site, but at codemachine.com/downloads.html as posted by Addy below. – Tonietonight

Answer 3

If you run winsdk_web.exe from the following link, you can selectively install windbg or extract windbg installer msi.

Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4 http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=191420

Oaks

Also, just to be explicit, when you run the installer suggested by Sukesh, you only need to select 'Debugging Tools for Windows'. It'll be installed with that! (I've added an image to Sukesh's answer (hope you don't mind), to help others). – Contravention

Tried this just now on Win 7 64bit, and the installer fails. – Murdoch

Tried this just now on Win 7 32bit, and I can't find windbg.exe. Someone also had this problem. #14020577 – Simson

This solution works ok for win xp but NOT on win 7 64bit. eightx2 or Dave Black's solution above works fine for windows 7 64bit. – Roundsman

I installed all the stuff, yet the windbg.exe is nowhere to be found. Anyone knows where the executable is? – Anandrous

Note: you may need to install .NET 4 (though probably not for debugging tools). Also: while the install directory is flagged to you, windbg ends up elsewhere (in Program Files (x86)) – Dennet

Answer 4

The standalone MSI file of windbg can be downloaded from here. The version is 6.12.0002.633 (x86). http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/6/A/A6AC035D-DA3F-4F0C-ADA4-37C8E5D34E3D/setup/WinSDKDebuggingTools/dbg_x86.msi

Simson

Does exist a 64bit version of that? Does it really matter? – Vernacularism

@WuYongzheng, Where did you find this from? Which page is it linked from? – Epicycle

I found it from a non-microsoft website. Forget which one. – Simson

Work on Windows 7 64bit. The link is suspicious tho. – Erle

Answer 5

If you're on Windows 7 x64, the solution provided by Sukesh doesn't work.

I managed to install the debugging tools by downloading the Windows SDK installer for Windows 8 (here), and then choosing "Debugging Tools for Windows" in the installer:

Pharaoh

Dave Black provided a more up to date answer which I've marked as the accepted answer. The page he links to contains your link (and other information). – Hakan

Thanks this worked on my Windows 7. The windows 7 one was not getting installed. – Breathtaking

Answer 6

http://codemachine.com/downloads.html

Has all the individual msi files

Rubious

Answer 7

Try the MSDN archive link at http://archive.msdn.microsoft.com/debugtoolswindows/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=4912. It has the WinDbg MSI for both 32- and 64-bit (Version 6.12.2.633).

Windward

Answer 8

I found both, x64 and x86 version 6.12.0002.633 here:

http://rxwen.blogspot.de/2010/04/standalone-windbg-v6120002633.html

Woodham

Answer 9

The saga continues with the Windows 10 version. I had to install Win Debug Tools on clean Windows 10 OS with Visual Studio 2015.

To make a long story short, just follow the instructions in the link provided by David Black. After downloading the files, instead of running the SDK installer, browse to the installers directory and execute the msi files directly.

I wonder how many man hours have been lost through the last decade because of MS sloppiness in regards to WDK/SDK installation?

Vinculum

Answer 10

You can also get it from Chocolatey:

https://chocolatey.org/packages/windbg

Personification

Answer 11

For Windows 7 x86 you can also download the ISO: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=8442

And run \Setup\WinSDKDebuggingTools\dbg_x86.msi

WinDbg.exe will then be installed (default location) to: C:\Program Files (x86)\Debugging Tools for Windows (x86)

Yenta

I was looking for a way to avoid downloading the large ISO when I only want to install a small part of it – Hakan

Answer 12

I was looking for the same thing for a quick operation and found this question. I needed both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

This is an older version but the links are from the Microsoft servers, it should be safe. The link for 32-bit version is also in a previous answer but the version number i get on the install is different, maybe the same link is updated with a newer version since 2013.

Cheksums are generated both locally and on VirusTotal, they match.

Debugging Tools for Windows (x64) (6.12.2.633)(VirusTotal Scan): http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/6/A/A6AC035D-DA3F-4F0C-ADA4-37C8E5D34E3D/setup/WinSDKDebuggingTools_amd64/dbg_amd64.msi (SHA-256:2e491bb98850abf9b9d2627185b57e048ba9b2410d68303698ac68c2daad9e5d)

Debugging Tools for Windows (x86) (6.12.2.633)(VirusTotal Scan): http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/6/A/A6AC035D-DA3F-4F0C-ADA4-37C8E5D34E3D/setup/WinSDKDebuggingTools/dbg_x86.msi (SHA-256:5a0f43281e51405408a043e2f94dd51782ef29671307d3538cfdff5b0e69d115)

I tested the 64 bit debugger with a 64 bit program that was compiled some years ago (~2012) and it works. Test is done on Windows 10 Pro 64 bit (v2004 Build 19041.207).

Diffusivity

Answer 13

WinDbg is now available separately via MS Store. It's called "Preview" but I tested it to analyse some memory dumps and it works fine.

If you're on Windows 10 - launch MS Store, type "WinDbg" in the search box and voi-la - you have it. The download is approx. 100mb. It will downlaod required symbols automatically.

Amend

This seems unusable to me at the moment; buggy. – Allowed

Answer 14

This Microsoft link allows you to select the SDK. When you run the install and only select Windows debugging tools it will only download 288mb and install the tool as stand alone.

https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/download-windbg

Requisition