Driver Studio 3.2 hang-up on WinXP

Stepping back to an older kernel is not even necessary. I am running DS 3.01 on the most current XP. All you have to do is:

- Download latest WinDbg (free download from Microsoft) and install it.
- Pick symsrv.dll from WinDbg installation and replace the older version in the DS installation folder with it. Note: There are at least two instances of symsrv.dll in the DS folders.
- Run the DS symbol retriever. Configure output path etc. to your liking, then pick NTOSKRNL.EXE, ntdll.dll, kernel32.dll, user32.dll from your Windows/System32 directory and add them to the list of files.
- Download appropriate debug symbol files from MS and let the symbol retriever translate them to *.nms (Numega symbol format) - this may take a bit of time and the symbol retriever isn't too talkative about the progress. Just be patient until the program has done its work
- Run the DS setup program, add the following line to the advanced settings:
NTSYMBOLS=ON
- add the previously generated nms files to the list of symbols to import for SI.
- Download latest osinfo.dat just to make sure and replace the outdated file in your Windows/System32/Drivers (IIRC)
- Save the settings and reboot your comp.
- Open a dosbox, enter "net start ntice" and there ya go.

P.S. I am currently fiddling with IceExt in combination with a total conversion of SoftICE - I'll let you know when (if) I find a way to make it work properly.