Can I run a .NET garbage collection from WinDbg?

Question

I'm looking into why a managed process is using a lot of memory. Is there a way to run GC.Collect(3) from WinDbg, so that I can focus on the actual memory allocation?

Answer 1

I don't think there is any way to run a .NET garbage collection from WinDbg, but I also don't think it is necessary.

See Rico Mariani's Performance Tidbits - Tracking down managed memory leaks (how to find a GC leak) for information about finding out what kind of stuff is on your heap.

Additional possibly useful links:

• When to call GC.Collect()
• Scott Dorman - .NET Memory Management – Resources