Not able to atach to dllhost.exe

[blueplant]

Dear experts,

Im trying to use VTune to analyze our apps. One of our apps is com+ object. So I want to watch dllhost.exe which is used by our apps.

However, I cant use attach Process by PID to collect data because VTune failed to access to the process though the PID is existing in the task manager

There are errors as following:

Error: Failed to attach to the process with the specified PID. Specify another PID and try attaching again.

Error: System error 0x5 : OpenProcess : Access is denied.Pin is exiting due to fatal error

The version of VTune we used is VTune Amplifier XE 2011. How can we use VTune to analyze dllhost.exe.

Thanks,
blueplants

[Kirill_R_Intel]

To analyze system processes administrative privilages are needed. Double-check if Amplifier was started by administrator.

[blueplant]

Hi Kirill,

Thank you for your reply, it is a server2003 machine which doesn't have UAC and the account I'm using is an admin accout.

I am able to attach some other process, but not dllhost.exe.

Thanks & Regards,

Blueplant

[Kirill_R_Intel]

Blueplant,

What analysis type do you run? I suspect it is one of user mode sampling types, like hotspots or locks and waits.
The dllhost.exe is system process that works in kernel mode and user mode sampling is not applicable to it.
To analyze Windows services you should use hardware based analysis. Try Lightweight hotspots, it should work.

Regards,
Kirill

[blueplant]

Hi Kirill,

Thank you for your reply.
Yes, I use hotspot type. I'll try lightweight hotspots type and get back to you :)

Thanks and regards,

blueplant

[Kirill_R_Intel]

If someone reads the thread, for analysing Windows* services refer to this article:
http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/profiling-windows-service/