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I have a console application that runs some temperamental hardware. If I don't detach from it nicely, windows tends to bluescreen five minutes later. I can catch when the application is closed by using SetConsoleCtrlHandler. But when I hit 'stop debugging' in visual studio, it skips this process and just kills the program brutally. As of 2009 it appears nobody has a solution for this problem.

Is this still the case? Do I really have to live with a bluescreen if I accidentally hit the wrong button?

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wxffles
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Killing the process is what that button is for. If you want the program to terminate gracefully, you need to let it run to completion. You can use the debugger's "continue" button, or just detach from the process, and then quit the program in the normal way. Or you can use the debugger to do something that makes the program quit itself, such as setting a "done" flag that controls a main loop.

You might consider splitting your program into two parts: a service that deals with the hardware's peculiarities and presents a "clean" interface to the console application, and the console application which talks to the service instead of directly to the hardware.

Wyzard
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You immediate problem is the TerminateProcess function that even Task Manager can execute which gives you no recourse to shutdown cleanly. Even if you could solve the Visual Studio problem, someone could right click and "End Process" and you be in the same boat.

Your root problem is poorly-written device drivers. These driver should not blue-screen even if you are abruptly terminated. If you have choice but to use them then you can try to bulletproof your process by running with administrative privileges, running as a service, or confining operations to short windows of time. Or you can simply train your operators not to do the things that will cause your delicate system to blow up. And hope.

Rick Sladkey
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  • Operators are not a problem as they will be locked out of doing such things. They don't even get a keyboard. It's just the idiot developers that are the problem (i.e. me). – wxffles May 06 '11 at 04:11
  • @wxffles: Is it that you accidentally stop the program or that you are forced to stop the program because of a crash/bug/exception that cannot continue? If it is accidental, how do you stop it? Debug -> Stop Debugging? Shift+F5? – Rick Sladkey May 06 '11 at 04:26