Updated guides titles, index, about page, and WinDbg guide

lowleveldesign · lowleveldesign · commit 268fbb60169d · 2025-01-18T13:49:30.000+01:00
diff --git a/_posts/2021-01-29-announcing-wtrace-3.0.md b/_posts/2021-01-29-announcing-wtrace-3.0.md
@@ -7,9 +7,9 @@ permalink: /2021/01/29/announcing-wtrace-3-0/
 
 After weeks of work, I am happy to announce the new release of wtrace. The **3.0 version** is a complete rewrite, with many fixes and new features.
 
-One of the most significant changes is the possibility to **collect traces system-wide**. If you don’t provide a file path or PID, wtrace will trace all the processes. To keep the number of trace events acceptable, consider using one of the [extensive filtering options](/documentation/wtrace/#filtering-events) (a new feature, too!).
+One of the most significant changes is the possibility to **collect traces system-wide**. If you don’t provide a file path or PID, wtrace will trace all the processes. To keep the number of trace events acceptable, consider using one of the extensive filtering options (a new feature, too!).
 
-You may also choose the [event handlers](/documentation/wtrace/#event-handlers) for each session. The sensible default set includes process, file, RPC, and TCP handlers. The 3.0 version introduces a **Registry** event handler, so if you enable it, you may trace Registry operations with wtrace! I plan to add handlers for less common event types in future releases, too.
+You may also choose the event handlers for each session. The sensible default set includes process, file, RPC, and TCP handlers. The 3.0 version introduces a **Registry** event handler, so if you enable it, you may trace Registry operations with wtrace! I plan to add handlers for less common event types in future releases, too.
 
 The **summary** section got a new view that displays a process tree. When tracing system-wide or system-only, the tree includes all the running processes. In other modes, you will see the parent process and all its descendants.
 
diff --git a/_posts/2021-07-03-announcing-dotnet-wtrace-1.0.md b/_posts/2021-07-03-announcing-dotnet-wtrace-1.0.md
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ The reasoning for creating dotnet-wtrace was that I could not find any tool that
 
 ![](/assets/img/dotnet-wtrace-example-output.png)
 
-As in wtrace, you may choose the handlers and specify event filters through the command-line options. Please have a look at the [documentation](/documentation/dotnet-wtrace) to learn more.
+As in wtrace, you may choose the handlers and specify event filters through the command-line options. Please have a look at the [documentation](https://github.com/lowleveldesign/dotnet-wtrace#readme) to learn more.
 
 I hope I convinced you to give dotnet-wtrace a try. You may install it as one of the dotnet tools:
 
diff --git a/_posts/2022-05-27-announcing-comon.md b/_posts/2022-05-27-announcing-comon.md
@@ -57,4 +57,4 @@ ntdll!NtMapViewOfSection+0xc:
 00 0095f540 004e482a protoss!ILT+1280(?get_NameNexusUAGJPAPA_WZ)
 ```
 
-If you're working with COM (or debugging Windows applications), I believe that comon will benefit your work. So comon, give it a try 😊 The latest binaries are on the [release page](https://github.com/lowleveldesign/comon/releases) and the documentation is [here](https://wtrace.net/documentation/comon/).
+If you're working with COM (or debugging Windows applications), I believe that comon will benefit your work. So comon, give it a try 😊 The latest binaries are on the [release page](https://github.com/lowleveldesign/comon/releases).
diff --git a/_posts/2023-04-07-comon-2.1-released.md b/_posts/2023-04-07-comon-2.1-released.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ date:   2023-04-07 08:00:00 +0200
 permalink: /2023/04/07/new-comon-release/
 ---
 
-It has been a long time since the last update, but I have some news to share! 😊 I've been doing a lot of COM debugging with WinDbg and comon lately. [Comon](https://github.com/lowleveldesign/comon), as you maybe remember, is a WinDbg extension I wrote to simplify COM troubleshooting. The **new release (2.1)** includes bug fixes and new functionalities. The feature I am most happy about is the support for **COM method parameters**. Comon now extracts information about method parameters from COM metadata and can display their values on method calls (not all COM types are supported yet). Please check the [COM troubleshooting tutorial](/articles/com-troubleshooting) to learn more.
+It has been a long time since the last update, but I have some news to share! 😊 I've been doing a lot of COM debugging with WinDbg and comon lately. [Comon](https://github.com/lowleveldesign/comon), as you maybe remember, is a WinDbg extension I wrote to simplify COM troubleshooting. The **new release (2.1)** includes bug fixes and new functionalities. The feature I am most happy about is the support for **COM method parameters**. Comon now extracts information about method parameters from COM metadata and can display their values on method calls (not all COM types are supported yet).
 
 There were also changes to the way how comon manages breakpoints. They are now public and visible in the user session. Their command field has a comment explaining a given breakpoint purpose, for example: `* [comon] function breakpoint (name: RPCRT4!DllGetClassObject)`.
 
diff --git a/about.md b/about.md
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@ layout: page
 title: About
 ---
 
-I am **Sebastian Solnica**, a software engineer with over 15 years of experience. Debugging, profiling, and application security have always been my primary interests. I've created this website to share tools and resources that I hope will help you in your diagnostic adventures. If you need assistance with any software acquired here or have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me at **contact@wtrace.net**.
+I am **Sebastian Solnica**, a software engineer with more than 15 years of experience. My primary interests are debugging, profiling, and application security. I created this website to share tools and resources that can help you in your diagnostic endeavors. 
+
+I also provide consulting services for troubleshooting .NET applications. If you would like to discuss consulting or contact me for any other reason, please use [the contact form on my blog](https://lowleveldesign.org/about/) or email me at contact@wtrace.net.
 
 <p class="credits">
 <em><strong>Credits:</strong> this site uses modified icons from the <a href="https://github.com/feathericons/feather">feather set</a>.</em>
diff --git a/assets/windbg-install.ps1.txt b/assets/windbg-install.ps1.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+# script created by @Izybkr (https://github.com/microsoftfeedback/WinDbg-Feedback/issues/19#issuecomment-1513926394) with my minor updates to make it work with latest WinDbg releases):
+
+param(
+    $OutDir = ".",
+    [ValidateSet("x64", "x86", "arm64")]
+    $Arch = "x64"
+)
+
+if (!(Test-Path $OutDir)) {
+    $null = mkdir $OutDir
+}
+
+$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
+
+if ($PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Major -le 5) {
+    [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
+
+    # This is a workaround to get better performance on older versions of PowerShell
+    $ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'
+}
+
+# Download the appinstaller to find the current uri for the msixbundle
+Invoke-WebRequest https://aka.ms/windbg/download -OutFile $OutDir\windbg.appinstaller
+
+# Download the msixbundle
+$msixBundleUri = ([xml](Get-Content $OutDir\windbg.appinstaller)).AppInstaller.MainBundle.Uri
+
+# Download the msixbundle (but name as zip for older versions of Expand-Archive
+Invoke-WebRequest $msixBundleUri -OutFile $OutDir\windbg.zip
+
+# Extract the 3 msix files (plus other files)
+Expand-Archive -DestinationPath $OutDir\UnzippedBundle $OutDir\windbg.zip
+
+# Expand the build you want - also renaming the msix to zip for Windows PowerShell
+$fileName = switch ($Arch) {
+    "x64" { "windbg_win-x64" }
+    "x86" { "windbg_win-x86" }
+    "arm64" { "windbg_win-arm64" }
+}
+
+# Rename msix (for older versions of Expand-Archive) and extract the debugger
+Rename-Item "$OutDir\UnzippedBundle\$fileName.msix" "$fileName.zip"
+Expand-Archive -DestinationPath "$OutDir\windbg" "$OutDir\UnzippedBundle\$fileName.zip"
+
+Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$OutDir\UnzippedBundle"
+Remove-Item -Force "$OutDir\windbg.appinstaller"
+Remove-Item -Force "$OutDir\windbg.zip"
+
+# Now you can run:
+& $OutDir\windbg\DbgX.Shell.exe
diff --git a/documentation/comon.md b/documentation/comon.md
diff --git a/documentation/dotnet-wtrace.md b/documentation/dotnet-wtrace.md
diff --git a/documentation/wtrace.md b/documentation/wtrace.md
diff --git a/guides.md b/guides.md
@@ -21,22 +21,22 @@ A guide presenting troubleshooting techniques and tools (including the [comon ex
 
 ### :wrench: Tools usage
 
-#### [WinDbg Usage Guide](using-windbg)
+#### [WinDbg usage guide](windbg)
 
 My field notes describing usage of WinDbg and WinDbgX (new WinDbg).
 
-#### [Using Event Tracing for Windows (ETW)](using-etw)
+#### [Event Tracing for Windows (ETW)](etw)
 
 This guide describes how to collect and analyze ETW traces.
 
 #### [Using withdll and detours to trace Win API calls](using-withdll-and-detours-to-trace-winapi)
 
 This guide describes how to use [withdll](https://github.com/lowleveldesign/withdll) and [Detours](https://github.com/microsoft/Detours) samples to collect traces of Win API calls.
 
-#### [Using Windows Performance Counters](using-performance-counters)
+#### [Windows Performance Counters](windows-performance-counters)
 
 The guide presents how to query Windows Performance Counters and analyze the collected data.
 
-#### [Using network tracing tools](using-network-tracing-tools)
+#### [Network tracing tools](network-tracing-tools)
 
 This guide lists various network tools you may use to diagnose connectivity problems and collect network traces on Windows and Linux.
diff --git a/guides/etw.md b/guides/etw.md
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 ---
 layout: page
-title: Using Event Tracing for Windows (ETW)
+title: Event Tracing for Windows (ETW)
 date: 2024-01-01 08:00:00 +0200
+redirect_from:
+    - /guides/using-etw/
 ---
 
 {% raw %}
diff --git a/guides/network-tracing-tools.md b/guides/network-tracing-tools.md
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 ---
 layout: page
-title: Using network tracing tools
+title: Network tracing tools
 date: 2024-01-01 08:00:00 +0200
+redirect_from:
+  - /guides/using-network-tracing-tools/
 ---
 
 <!-- MarkdownTOC -->
diff --git a/guides/windbg.md b/guides/windbg.md
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 ---
 layout: page
-title: WinDbg Usage Guide
+title: WinDbg usage guide
 date: 2024-12-04 08:00:00 +0200
 redirect_from:
     - /guides/using-ttd/
-    - /guides/using-ttd
+    - /guides/using-windbg/
 ---
 
 {% raw %}
@@ -76,58 +76,7 @@ Installing WinDbg
 
 ### WinDbgX (WinDbgNext, formely WinDbg Preview)
 
-On modern systems download the [appinstaller](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/debugger/) file and choose Install in the context menu. If you are on Windows Server 2019 and you don't see the Install option in the context menu, there is a big chance you're missing the App Installer package on your system. In that case, you may use the following PowerShell script ([created by @Izybkr](https://github.com/microsoftfeedback/WinDbg-Feedback/issues/19#issuecomment-1513926394) with my minor updates to make it work with latest WinDbg releases):
-
-```shell
-param(
-    $OutDir = ".",
-    [ValidateSet("x64", "x86", "arm64")]
-    $Arch = "x64"
-)
-
-if (!(Test-Path $OutDir)) {
-    $null = mkdir $OutDir
-}
-
-$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
-
-if ($PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Major -le 5) {
-    [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
-
-    # This is a workaround to get better performance on older versions of PowerShell
-    $ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'
-}
-
-# Download the appinstaller to find the current uri for the msixbundle
-Invoke-WebRequest https://aka.ms/windbg/download -OutFile $OutDir\windbg.appinstaller
-
-# Download the msixbundle
-$msixBundleUri = ([xml](Get-Content $OutDir\windbg.appinstaller)).AppInstaller.MainBundle.Uri
-
-# Download the msixbundle (but name as zip for older versions of Expand-Archive
-Invoke-WebRequest $msixBundleUri -OutFile $OutDir\windbg.zip
-
-# Extract the 3 msix files (plus other files)
-Expand-Archive -DestinationPath $OutDir\UnzippedBundle $OutDir\windbg.zip
-
-# Expand the build you want - also renaming the msix to zip for Windows PowerShell
-$fileName = switch ($Arch) {
-    "x64" { "windbg_win-x64" }
-    "x86" { "windbg_win-x86" }
-    "arm64" { "windbg_win-arm64" }
-}
-
-# Rename msix (for older versions of Expand-Archive) and extract the debugger
-Rename-Item "$OutDir\UnzippedBundle\$fileName.msix" "$fileName.zip"
-Expand-Archive -DestinationPath "$OutDir\windbg" "$OutDir\UnzippedBundle\$fileName.zip"
-
-Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$OutDir\UnzippedBundle"
-Remove-Item -Force "$OutDir\windbg.appinstaller"
-Remove-Item -Force "$OutDir\windbg.zip"
-
-# Now you can run:
-& $OutDir\windbg\DbgX.Shell.exe
-```
+On modern systems download the [appinstaller](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/debugger/) file and choose Install in the context menu. If you are on Windows Server 2019 and you don't see the Install option in the context menu, there is a big chance you're missing the App Installer package on your system. In that case, you may use **[this PowerShell script](/assets/windbg-install.ps1.txt)** ([created by @Izybkr](https://github.com/microsoftfeedback/WinDbg-Feedback/issues/19#issuecomment-1513926394) with my minor updates to make it work with latest WinDbg releases).
 
 ### Classic WinDbg
 
diff --git a/guides/windows-performance-counters.md b/guides/windows-performance-counters.md
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 ---
 layout: page
-title: Using Windows Performance Counters
+title: Windows Performance Counters
 date: 2024-01-01 08:00:00 +0200
+redirect_from:
+  - /guides/using-perfomance-counters/
 ---
 
 {% raw %}
diff --git a/index.md b/index.md
@@ -4,8 +4,13 @@ description: Tools and materials for software and system troubleshooting
 feature_image: /assets/img/background.jpg
 ---
 
-## Hello fellow diagnosers!
+## Hello fellow troubleshooters!
 
-I created this site to share with you notes (guides) and tools that I have created during my career as a software developer and troubleshooter. [**Guides**](/guides/) do not contain much theory but rather describe techniques, tools, and scripts with their usage examples. I try to keep them updated with new things I learn and discover.
+I created this site to share guides and tools that I developed during my career as a software developer and troubleshooter. The [**guides**](/guides/) focus on practical techniques, tools, and scripts with usage examples rather than theoretical concepts. I regularly update them with new discoveries and insights.
 
-I hope you will find the materials helpful. Please visit the [about](/about/) page if you wish to contact me.
+### Quick Links
+
+- [Diagnosing native Windows applications](diagnosing-native-windows-apps)
+- [Diagnosing .NET applications](diagnosing-dotnet-apps)
+- [WinDbg usage guide](/guides/windbg)
+- [Event Tracing for Windows](/guides/etw)
