Process Monitor is a free tool that allows you to troubleshoot file and registry access problems that might be causing your application to behave unexpectedly.
The Sysinternals web site was created in 1996 by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell to host their advanced system utilities and technical information. Microsoft acquired Sysinternals in July, 2006. These tools are not loaded on Windows operating systems by default.
This tool, free to download and use, is available at the following website:
Process Monitor User Interface
To troubleshoot your executable, especially if the executable itself is having trouble accessing files/folders or registry keys, do the following:
1. Run Process Monitor, stop event capturing (Ctrl+E) by unchecking File -> Capture Events.
2. Clear the log (Ctrl+X), if necessary, by clicking on Edit -> Clear Display.
3. Click on Filter -> Filter.
4. Select "Process Name" from the event list on the top left.
5. Enter the exact name of your executable, including the extension (.exe), in the field on the right of the box containing "is".
6. Click on Add, then on OK.
7. Start event capturing (Ctrl+E) by clicking on File -> Capture Events (check mark should be set).
8. Run your executable and when it stops running, stop event capturing by unchecking File -> Capture Events.
9. Save the log file by clicking on File -> Save, use the PML format.
To troubleshoot your executable, especially when it interacts with other applications and you are not sure which application might be interfering with yours (e. g. AntiVirus), remove the "Process Name" filter entry that refers to your executable and follow the steps above by only using the default filter entries.
You can watch an example demonstration on how to use this tool here:
http://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/Defrag-Tools/Defrag-Tools-4-Process-Monitor
