<s>
SoftICE	B-Application
is	O
a	O
kernel	B-Application
mode	I-Application
debugger	I-Application
for	O
DOS	B-Device
and	O
Windows	O
up	O
to	O
Windows	O
XP	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
designed	O
to	O
run	O
underneath	O
Windows	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
is	O
unaware	O
of	O
its	O
presence	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
an	O
application	O
debugger	B-Application
,	O
SoftICE	B-Application
is	O
capable	O
of	O
suspending	O
all	O
operations	O
in	O
Windows	O
when	O
instructed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
its	O
low-level	O
capabilities	O
,	O
SoftICE	B-Application
is	O
also	O
popular	O
as	O
a	O
software	B-Application
cracking	I-Application
tool	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
offers	O
two	O
kernel-mode	O
debuggers	B-Application
,	O
WinDbg	B-Application
and	O
KD	O
,	O
without	O
charges	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
full	O
capabilities	O
of	O
WinDbg	B-Application
and	O
KD	O
are	O
available	O
only	O
when	O
two	O
interlinked	O
computers	O
are	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SoftICE	B-Application
,	O
therefore	O
,	O
is	O
an	O
exceptionally	O
useful	O
tool	O
for	O
difficult	O
driver	O
related	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Older	O
versions	O
exist	O
for	O
DOS	B-Device
and	O
compatible	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
SoftICE	B-Application
was	O
originally	O
produced	O
by	O
the	O
company	O
NuMega	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
subsequently	O
acquired	O
by	O
Compuware	O
in	O
1997	O
,	O
which	O
in	O
turn	O
sold	O
the	O
property	O
to	O
Micro	O
Focus	O
in	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Currently	O
,	O
Micro	O
Focus	O
owns	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
and	O
patents	O
,	O
but	O
is	O
not	O
actively	O
maintaining	O
SoftICE	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
Soft	O
"	O
refers	O
to	O
software	O
,	O
and	O
"	O
ICE	O
"	O
is	O
an	O
allusion	O
to	O
in-circuit	B-Application
emulator	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
SoftICE	B-Application
for	I-Application
DOS	I-Application
was	O
written	O
in	O
1987	O
by	O
NuMega	O
founders	O
Frank	O
Grossman	O
and	O
Jim	O
Moskun	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
program	O
,	O
written	O
in	O
80386	B-General_Concept
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
played	O
the	O
role	O
of	O
an	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
and	O
ran	O
software	O
in	O
virtual	B-Application
8086	I-Application
mode	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
sold	O
for	O
$386	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SoftICE/W	B-Application
(	O
for	O
Windows	O
)	O
was	O
developed	O
in	O
the	O
1990s	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
instrumental	O
in	O
the	O
Writing	O
of	O
"	O
Undocumented	O
Windows	O
"	O
,	O
by	O
Andrew	O
Schulman	O
,	O
David	O
Maxey	O
and	O
Matt	O
Pietrek	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SoftICE/W	B-Application
was	O
derived	O
from	O
an	O
earlier	O
,	O
lesser	O
known	O
product	O
,	O
SoftICE	B-Application
for	I-Application
NetWare	I-Application
(	O
32-bit	O
protected	O
mode	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
key	O
advantages	O
it	O
had	O
over	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
debuggers	B-Application
is	O
that	O
it	O
enabled	O
single	O
machine	O
debugging	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
requiring	O
a	O
second	O
machine	O
to	O
be	O
connected	O
over	O
a	O
serial	O
port	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
principal	O
developers	O
of	O
SoftICE	B-Application
were	O
Dom	O
Basile	O
( 	O
 '	O
Mr.	O
</s>
<s>
SoftICE	B-Application
 '	O
)	O
,	O
Tom	O
Guinther	O
(	O
Kitchen	O
Sink	O
,	O
Symbol	O
Engine	O
)	O
,	O
Gerald	O
Ryckman	O
(	O
Video	O
drivers	O
and	O
Kitchen	O
Sink	O
)	O
,	O
Ray	O
Hsu	O
(	O
Video	O
drivers	O
for	O
Windows	O
95	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
Dan	O
Babcock	O
(	O
SoftICE/NT	B-Application
3.1/3.5	O
:	O
Universal	O
video	O
driver	O
,	O
symbol	O
engine	O
)	O
,	O
with	O
contributions	O
by	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
NuMega	O
developers	O
including	O
Frank	O
Grossman	O
,	O
Jim	O
Moskun	O
and	O
Matt	O
Pietrek	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1998	O
,	O
the	O
codebase	O
for	O
SoftICE/95	B-Application
was	O
ported	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
the	O
Windows	O
NT	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Newer	O
versions	O
of	O
SoftICE	B-Application
patch	O
deep	O
into	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
such	O
,	O
old	O
versions	O
of	O
SoftICE	B-Application
are	O
rarely	O
compatible	O
with	O
new	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Compuware	O
therefore	O
offered	O
SoftICE	B-Application
as	O
a	O
subscription	O
so	O
that	O
it	O
could	O
be	O
kept	O
up	O
to	O
date	O
and	O
in	O
sync	O
with	O
the	O
latest	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SoftICE	B-Application
was	O
previously	O
offered	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
Compuware	O
's	O
DriverStudio	O
package	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
discontinued	O
in	O
April	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	O
vendors	O
have	O
put	O
in	O
place	O
a	O
wide	O
range	O
of	O
countermeasures	O
to	O
protect	O
themselves	O
from	O
people	O
employing	O
SoftICE	B-Application
as	O
a	O
tool	O
to	O
analyse	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
here	O
is	O
code	O
some	O
vendors	O
used	O
to	O
detect	O
the	O
presence	O
of	O
SoftICE	B-Application
running	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
machine	O
as	O
an	O
early	O
countermeasure	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
most	O
of	O
them	O
can	O
only	O
deter	O
the	O
less	O
experienced	O
and	O
determined	O
hackers	O
,	O
SoftICE	B-Application
is	O
no	O
longer	O
a	O
tool	O
of	O
choice	O
for	O
someone	O
new	O
to	O
analysing	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Themida	O
,	O
Armadillo	O
or	O
ASProtect	O
which	O
pack	O
the	O
program	O
code	O
and	O
tamper	O
with	O
entry	B-Language
point	I-Language
addresses	O
so	O
it	O
is	O
hard	O
to	O
find	O
the	O
program	O
's	O
original	O
entry	B-Language
point	I-Language
(	O
OEP	B-Language
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
tools	O
for	O
hiding	O
SoftICE	B-Application
are	O
also	O
available	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
IceStealth	O
and	O
IceExt	O
for	O
Windows	O
NT	O
,	O
or	O
Icedump	O
and	O
IcePatch	O
for	O
Windows	O
9x	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1989	O
,	O
BYTE	O
listed	O
Soft-ICE	B-Application
among	O
the	O
"	O
Distinction	O
"	O
winners	O
of	O
the	O
BYTE	O
Awards	O
,	O
stating	O
that	O
,	O
"	O
If	O
you	O
're	O
developing	O
8086-based	O
applications	O
on	O
an	O
80386	B-General_Concept
machine	O
,	O
this	O
is	O
an	O
essential	O
and	O
affordable	O
tool	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
commercial	O
kernel-level	O
debugger	B-Application
called	O
Syser	O
claims	O
to	O
continue	O
where	O
SoftICE	B-Application
left	O
off	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
shareware	O
debugger	B-Application
,	O
but	O
free	O
to	O
use	O
,	O
OllyDbg	B-Application
is	O
a	O
32-bit	O
assembler-level	O
debugger	B-Application
from	O
Oleh	O
Yuschuk	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
open	O
source	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
debugger	B-Application
similar	O
to	O
SoftICE	B-Application
named	O
Rasta	O
Ring	O
0	O
Debugger	B-Application
(	O
RR0D	O
)	O
is	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
provides	O
low-level	O
debugging	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
OpenBSD	B-Operating_System
,	O
NetBSD	B-Device
,	O
and	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
,	O
the	O
last	O
change	O
in	O
its	O
GitHub	B-Application
source	O
code	O
repository	O
occurred	O
in	O
December	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
debugger	B-Application
called	O
BugChecker	O
is	O
a	O
32-bit	O
single-host	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
debugger	B-Application
for	O
Windows	O
2000	O
and	O
XP	O
,	O
developed	O
and	O
made	O
available	O
as	O
open	O
source	O
for	O
educational	O
purposes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BugChecker	O
allows	O
users	O
to	O
trace	O
into	O
both	O
user	O
and	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
code	O
,	O
both	O
on	O
uniprocessor	O
and	O
multiprocessor	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
2000	O
and	O
XP	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
hypervisors	O
allow	O
debugging	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
running	O
in	O
the	O
virtual	O
machine	O
through	O
exposing	O
some	O
kind	O
of	O
debugger	B-Application
interface	O
that	O
can	O
control	O
the	O
virtualized	O
processor	O
directly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allows	O
debugging	O
even	O
if	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
does	O
not	O
have	O
native	O
debugging	O
facilities	O
.	O
</s>
