Debug ArcMap 10.3 start - process ends with 'Loading Document...' message.

[ValentinWittich]

How can I debug the initial process of ArcMap 10.3.1 for Desktop? The ARCMAP.exe process get's killed after hanging a while with the "Loading Document..." message.

What I have done so far:

• Check and reset the Normal.mxt
• Reset AppData\Roaming\ESRI\Desktop10.3
• reinstall ArcGIS 10.3.1

It seams like something is blocking the initialing process. Interesting is that the process gets about 70,000 K memory and then doesn't change anymore until it get killed. Any ideas how to debug the start of ArcMap?

[ValentinWittich]

I check the printer configuration and there where some problems as I had to force to remove some old printer drivers. But that didn't help to make ArcMap starting again...

[JonMorris2]

Never mind, it was worth a try. As you've already reinstalled Arcmap, a support call may be your only option now. Maybe they have some extra diagnostics to try.

[curtvprice]

I ran into this problem on my new laptop a month ago -- in the end the culprit was my display adapter driver.   Driver upgrade, problem solved.

[MargaretMaher]

Reinstalling or upgrading to a new version of ArcGIS does not replace the Normal.mxt or other profile files that are associated with ArcGIS Desktop, but here are two other suggestions:

1]   If you have someone else in your shop who can log into your computer with their login, have that user try to start ArcMap. If ArcMap still won't start, there is a software or OS problem.  If the other user CAN start ArcMap without a problem, a likely cause is a corrupt Windows profile.  You can also check this yourself by logging in as a GUEST.  2]  Another thing to check is virus scanning software.  Avast, Kaspersky, and some other antivirus products conflict with ArcMap and see essential components as malware.  White list the ArcGIS folder under C:\Program Files(x86) to see if that solves the problem.

[V_StuartFoote]

Valentin Wittich​

To actually debug with WinDbg absent a debug build and symbol file  -- which are always internal Esri proprietary -- (and why you really need to open a support issue with Esri) the best tool is Microsoft Technet Sysinternals ProcMon diagnostic.

It is very tedious to use, but the basic idea is you capture your entire ArcGIS lanuch cycle--every thing happening on the system--and then filter back to the pertinent pieces working backward from when it throws the error.  Then tracing the GUID of the called process back to the specific source .dll--you can isolate it down to one or a couple of elements and go from there (i.e. open a ticket with Esri, or reconfigure the install as needed).

If you had them Symbols can be attached to ProcMon  in addition to MS provided symbols for the compiler and standard OS components.

It is not fun--but it will get you in the right area of the program.

Good luck.