VS2010: "No matching binary found" when trying to load symbols for crashdump

Question

For test purposes, I am debugging a minidump(created with .dump /ma) in Visual Studio 2010.

I have symbols available for that dump, but do not have the current binary (it is an executable).

The Module window in VS2010 shows 'No matching binary found' which seems right, since it cannot be found on the path where it was on the target machine.

I still would like to load the symbols, so I right-click the module, select "Load symbols from symbolpath" (which contains a path to the correct pdb), but a dialog pops up which asks me to select the binary file. I am unable to load the symbols for my module.

Why does VS need the image file? WinDbg is able to load the symbol file and show me the faulting stack without a problem.

Answer 1

I think it is by design. Visual Studio is designed and developed by a team while WinDbg is by another,

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/htzy3t6f.aspx

If you load a minidump file that was saved with a heap, Visual Studiocan load the symbols even if the application binary is not found. Minidump files without heaps need the binaries to load symbols.

If you want Visual Studio to be the same as WinDbg, you should go to Microsoft Connect and create a feature request,

http://connect.microsoft.com/intro/