CODEWITHSUNDEEP
visual-studiodebuggingpdb-files
Rana
Rana

Reputation: 1755

fatal error LNK1201: error writing to program database - Visual Studio 2003

I get this error: fatal error LNK1201: error writing to program database every time I edit my code and build again in visual studio 2003.

The issue is resolved if I restart VS2003 but I need to do this every time i build the project.

I have been googling and stackoverflowing ;) for a few hours and have tried the following proposed solution:

  1. Change the Debug Information Format from Zi to Z7. (Property -> C/C++ -> General -> Debug Information Format)

    This did not work

  2. Change Visual Studio Compatibility Mode to Windows XP SP3

    This did not work

  3. Add the following in the Pre-Build Event : net stop "Machine Debug Manager" net start "Machine Debug Manager"

    This produced the following error: System Error 5 has occurred. Access is denied. This could be because I do not have Admin Access on this machine.

  4. I have not tried this one because I am not allowed to download untrusted code at my work. Run FreePDB.cmd posted by Tony76 here

  5. Changed the Symbol Path as seen here: image

    This did not work

What I know:

This error could occur if the pdb file exceeds 1GB but mine is only 10MB.

My limitations:

  1. I do not have Admin Access on this computer
  2. Cannot run untrusted software (Work Computer)

Upvotes: 9

Views: 11023

Answers (6)

Gabriel Devillers
Gabriel Devillers

Reputation: 4012

I had this issue in VS2017. Deleting the PDB mentionned in the error solved it for me.

Upvotes: 3

InUser
InUser

Reputation: 1137

Quick fix for some cases, close all msbuilds and running instances, some prior run may crashed and holding the some files/pdb

Upvotes: 0

Coreggon
Coreggon

Reputation: 555

I came across the same problem when I was moving my VS project from old disk to new PC. Deleting all debug files eliminated the issue, maybe Clean-Build would solve it as well, but that is not what I have tried.

Upvotes: 5

Eswar
Eswar

Reputation: 1

Had similar issues when the solution was open in both VS2017 and VS2013. Fixed this issue by closing both the visual studio instances and re-opened the solution file.

Upvotes: 0

LOUIS SEITCHIK
LOUIS SEITCHIK

Reputation: 11

I use a program called LockHunter to unlock the PDB file. This works, though from time-to-time if stops successfully unlocking (or recognizing that the PDB file is locked) and I have to restart my PC

Upvotes: 1

AlainD
AlainD

Reputation: 6615

Had similar problem on Windows 10. This answer provides a solution using a tool called FreePDB. Worked for VS2003.NET, but apparently this solution works for multiple versions of Visual Studio.

Upvotes: 0

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