Choosing a 32-Bit or 64-Bit Debugger Package
The Debugging Tools for Windows package is available in three different versions: a 32-bit version, a native Intel Itanium version, and a native x64 version.
To determine which package to use, you have to know the processor that your host computer is running on.
x86-based Host Computer
If your host computer uses an x86-based processor, always use the 32-bit package.
Itanium Host Computer
If your host computer uses an Itanium-based processor, the following rules apply:
· If you are analyzing a dump file, and if the dump file was made on Microsoft Windows XP or a later version of Windows, you can use the 32-bit package or the Itanium package. (It is not important whether the dump file is a user-mode dump file or a kernel-mode dump file, and it is not important whether the dump file was made on an x86-based or an Itanium-based platform.)
· If you are analyzing a dump file, and if the dump file was made on Windows 2000, you should use the 32-bit package. (It is not important whether the dump file is a user-mode dump file or a kernel-mode dump file)
· If you are performing live kernel-mode debugging, and if the target computer is running Windows XP or a later version of Windows, you can use the 32-bit package or the Itanium package. (This situation applies to both x86-based and Itanium-based targets.)
· If you are performing live kernel-mode debugging, and if the target computer is running Windows 2000, you should use the 32-bit package.
· If you are performing live user-mode debugging, always use the Itanium package. It is not important whether the target is a 64-bit application or a 32-bit application. The debugger that is included in the Itanium package can debug any kind of application and the WOW64 emulator.
x64-based Host Computer
If your host computer uses an x64-based processor, the following rules apply:
· If you are analyzing a dump file, and if the dump file was made on Windows XP or a later version of Windows, you can use either the 32-bit package or the x64 package. (It is not important whether the dump file is a user-mode dump file or a kernel-mode dump file, and it is not important whether the dump file was made on an x86-based or an x64-based platform.)
· If you are analyzing a dump file, and if the dump file was made on Windows 2000 operating system, you should use the 32-bit package. (It is not important whether the dump file is a user-mode dump file or a kernel-mode dump file)
· If you are performing live kernel-mode debugging, and if the target computer is running Windows XP or a later version of Windows, you can use either the 32-bit package or the x64 package. (This situation applies to both x86-based and x64-based targets.)
· If you are performing live kernel-mode debugging, and if the target computer is running Windows 2000, you should use the 32-bit package.
· If you are performing live user-mode debugging, use the x64 package for debugging WOW64 with both 64-bit and 32-bit code. To debug other targets, use a 32-bit debugger to debug 32-bit code.
Reference: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff539099.aspx
