windows - Best way to have crash dumps generated when processes crash?

Question

In Windows environments (XP and Win 7):

• What is the best way to automatically have a crash dump generated when processes crash on the system?
• Can an installer (MSI) package do this?

Answer 1

One of the best way to have an automatic dump for any/specific process on Windows is to configure a set of entries in the registry. I tried the below on Windows 7 64 bit.

Open notepad.exe, paste the below entry and save it as "EnableDump.reg". You can give any name you wish.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsWindows Error ReportingLocalDumps]
"DumpFolder"=hex(2):44,00,3a,00,5c,00,64,00,75,00,6d,00,70,00,00,00
"DumpCount"=dword:00000010
"DumpType"=dword:00000002
"CustomDumpFlags"=dword:00000000

Double click the "EnableDump.reg" and select 'Yes'. I have given the dump folder as 'd:dump'. You can change it to whatever folder you wish.

Try to execute a crashing application, Windows will display the error dialog. Choose 'Close the Program' option. After that you will see the dump in the configured folder. The name of the dump file will be .exe..dmp.

For more details, you can refer the below link.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb787181(VS.85).aspx