setdbg

This is a handy utility to set automatic start-up debugger.

For Windows, registry setting "Image File Execution Options" is a well known method to start some debugger automatically whenever certain named executable is executed. Manually changing the setting using regedit can be tedious though, especially so if needed to locate the debugger first.

This utility locates all known debuggers from Microsoft and let you enable/disable a set of executables that starts with the debugger of your choice.

Note: Need administrative privileges to use.

Usage examples:

C:\> setdbg -h

usage 1: setdbg.py [options] [-e|--enable {exe} ...] [-d|--disable {exe} ...]
    Enable/disable starting debugger for an executable upon execution.

options:
    --msvc6, --vc6
        Use MSVC6 as debugger if available.
    --vs(2003|2005|2008|2010|2012|2013|2015|2017|2019|2022)
    --(2003|2005|2008|2010|2012|2013|2015|2017|2019|2022)
        Use Visual Studio as debugger if available.
    --windbg, --windbg_64
    --windbg8.0, --windbg8.0_64
    --windbg8.1, --windbg8.1_64
    --windbg10, --windbg10_64
        Use windbg as debugger if available.
    -c {cmdline}, --debugcmd={cmdline}
        Use {cmdline} to start the debugger.
    -h, --help
        Print this help.

usage 2: setdbg.py [-l|--list]
    List all debuggers found.

C:\> setdbg -l
Available debuggers:
vs2008          C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe
vs2010          C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe
vs2013          C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe
vs2015          C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe
vs2017          C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe
vs2019          C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe
vs2022(default) C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe
windbg10        C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x86\windbg.exe
windbg10_64     C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x64\windbg.exe
windbg_64       C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows (x64)\windbg.exe

C:\> setdbg -e test1.exe test2.exe
# debugcmd: "C:\VS2015\Common7\IDE\devenv.com" /debugexe
enabled: test1.exe
enabled: test2.exe

C:\> setdbg -d test1.exe test2.exe
disabled: test1.exe
disabled: test2.exe