VS attaching to process disabled

Question

A few days ago, the attach button in "Attach to process" dialogue became disabled in VS 2010 and VS 2008 likewise. At first I thought that it is just an extension I've installed in VS 2010 but then I noticed it is the same in VS 2008. The both VS's a re running in administrative mode and on Windows 7. I looked around but I can't seem to find a solution to this. If anybody has encountered an similar problem, a little help would do great. Thanks upfront.

EDIT: Attached a picture of the dialogue!

Rainproof

Try checking both the "Show processes from all users" and "Show processes in all sessions" checkboxes. – Bandler

What is the qualifier name? ie, are you attempting to debug on your own machine? perhaps post a screenshot of your attach to process dialog. – Jar

I'm trying to attach to local IIS instance, it's IIS 6.0 in question. Also I can't attach to Localhost either, not to a smartphone emulator. Although the debug works when hitting F5. – Rainproof

Answer 1

Where it says

you should press 'Select' and ensure at least managed is ticked. (or choose automatic)

otherwise, the 'Attach' button will be disabled.

Jar

Thanks, I can't believe that I didn't notice such an obvious thing. – Rainproof

no probs. dont be too hard on yourself; i dont think greying out that box is very nice either; validation on pressing 'attach' would be nicer. – Jar

Answer 2

It could also be because there is already another debugger attached to the process - probably the currently running instance of Visual Studio but it may be another instance of Visual Studio, or another debugger entirely (such as WinDbg or a remote debugging session).

Check the "Processes" window (usually found under Debug -> Windows -> Processes) to see what processes Visual Studio is debugging.

Try stopping Visual Studio but don't close the process.

Chandless

This one made sense in my case – Purpose

Answer 3

I have come across a weird situation under which Attach button was disabled. This was because of DebugDiag. Please refer the following thread for info.

Turkoman

Answer 4

I was trying to debug a windows service as described here and had the same issue. The solution was to run Visual Studio as Administrator and select to see processes from all users.

Kanazawa