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Memory Validator Help

Navigation: Overview

Introducing Memory Validator

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What is Memory Validator?

 

Memory Validator is an advanced memory and resource leak detector for Windows.

 

It works with versions of Windows from NT® 4.0 and above, running on the Intel i386 (and compatible) family of processors.

 

What does it do?

 

If you think your software might be leaking or even corrupting memory or resources, then Memory Validator will help with that - and more.

 

Memory Validator is fast and does not require the target program to be recompiled or relinked.

 

It detects:

 

memory leaks

handle leaks

memory corruptions

uninitialized memory

buffer overruns and underruns

 

It finds performance problems related to:

 

memory allocation and deallocation

resource allocation and deallocation

fragmented memory heaps

 

And it does this by tracking:

 

C runtime heaps

Win32 heaps

GlobalAlloc heap

LocalAlloc heap

VirtualAlloc heaps

Win32 resource handles

COM object creation and destruction

.Net object and .Net handle creation and garbage collection

 

note Not all the above capabilities are enabled 'out of the box' due to extra performance impacts involved. Also, note that not all capabilities can be enabled simultaneously.

 

seeAlsoWhat Memory Validator does.

 

You can learn more about memory management on Windows at the MSDN Dev CenterexternalLink.

 

 

The main sections of Memory Validator

 

The user interface is split via tabs into seven separate sections (+Tutorials), each dedicated to a different task for analysing a problem that is present in the target program.

 

Interactive image

introducing-main-sections

 

Here's a summary of those sections, each of which is covered in full in The User Interface section.

 

Summary

A high level dashboard for everything that you might want to look at. Click on any statistic to see more detailed information.

Memory

Displays any leaked memory or handles, and memory errors, such as double frees, incorrect frees, uninitialized data etc.
 
Contains subtabs for Native and .Net.

 

Timeline

Shows a visual timeline of total memory, handle allocations and memory allocations.

 

Statistics

Statistics for types, sizes, allocation location, generations and object ages.

 

.Net

.Net specific user interfaces for memory snapshots, heap dumps and .net leak analysis.

 

Analysis

Allocation hotspots, allocation coverage, allocation queries, memory page layout and virtual memory analysis.

 

Diagnostic

Lists diagnostic information collected by the stub.

 

Tutorial

Tutorial exercises for people new to the software.