How to Determine if Windows NT Is Started in Debug Mode

• Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.1, 3.5, 3.51, 4.0

SUMMARY

This article describes how to determine if your Windows NT-based computer is started in Debug mode.

MORE INFORMATION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

To determine if a Windows NT-based computer is started in Debug mode, verify the computer's startup options in the registry:

1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32).



2. Click the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE window.



3. Locate the following registry key:




SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control

4. In the Control key, locate the SystemStartOptions string value. If the computer is in Debug mode, one or more of the debug switches are displayed in the string (for example, /debug, /crashdebug, /debugport, or /baudrate). Any combination of one or more of these switches indicates that the computer is currently in Debug mode. If the computer was started with no options specified, this value is blank.


NOTE: This registry value is updated every time the computer starts, and contains the options specific for your current boot selection in the Boot.ini file.

REFERENCES

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q102987 REG: CurrentControlSet, PART 1

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbenv ntstart ntsecurity
Version : winnt:3.1,3.5,3.51,4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbinfo