Noob Question on Debugging DLL

[TechLord]

Thank you Beowulf for the suggestion..

I have intentionally not suggested dnSpy as it sometimes crashes when VB6 executables are involved.
On the other hand, Reflector is rather "mature" in the sense that it has been around for quite a while...

The approach I would suggest here would be to DECOMIPLE the VB6 dll with the VB Decompiler (available on this forum), identify the important areas of interest in the decompiled code, and then note down the RVAs of those portions, so that you can again identify them in the debugger, at runtime.

Place BP on those VAs and then check them out.

Another approach would be to change the "characteristics" of the dll to that of an EXE file and then load and debug it in olly.

Do remember that VB6 uses a"runtime" and hence DIRECTLY debugging it is rather messy, as you would getting a lot of "VM-like code of the runtime...

So, its BEST to DECOMPILE it first using the VB Decompiler before embarking on your quest ...

Good Luck

[0xd4d]

Originally Posted by TechLord

I have intentionally not suggested dnSpy as it sometimes crashes when VB6 executables are involved.

Do you have a file that causes the crash? dnSpy opens .NET files, and VB6 isn't a .NET language.

[TechLord]

Originally Posted by 0xd4d

Do you have a file that causes the crash? dnSpy opens .NET files, and VB6 isn't a .NET language.

Sorry man, the VB6 was a typo. Obviously I know it i snot .Net and hence had suggested a decompiler instead.

dnSpy is very good except that when "mixed" projects, involving managed and unmanaged code are involved, it sometimes crashes or hangs.

Will try to send specific code segments later. Even in those cases, the crashes are caused due to the obfuscators used or the anti-debug "tricks" rather than a "problem" with dnSpy itself.

GREAT JOB man , with the dnSpy prog !