Sometimes we seem to forget the setup we use for development and treat test machines as regular computers.
Wanting to capture the desktop screen of my test computer I realized that pressing the Print Screen key freezes everything (including keyboard and mouse). Apparently the only option left was the RESET button on the frontal panel. For the moment I thought that this is just a glitch and next time Print Screen will work. I was wrong!
After some thought I launched WinDbg from the development computer just to realize that Print Screen on the target (test) computer forces a breakpoint and, without a debugger, the test system appears to be dead.
So folks, here is the summary:
Symptom and possible cause:
If the kernel debug mode is on Print Screen key will force a system breakpoint and an attempt to connect with a debugger. If the debugger is not running the system appears to freeze and requires a reboot to operate normally again.
Solution:
If debugging is not necessary, deactivate the kernel debug mode by following the steps below:
- open a command window with administrative rights (type Win + R then ‘cmd.exe’);
- type ‘bcdedit -debug off’ and hit Enter;
- reboot the system for the changes to take effect.
Workaround:
If debugging is necessary, try a different tool for screen capture (e.g. Snipping Tool) and avoid pressing the Print Screen key for anything else other than forcing a debugger breakpoint.
