How to configure automatic crash dumps in case of application failures

http://support.emsisoft.com/topic/3810-how-to-configure-automatic-crash-dumps-in-case-of-application-failures/

 

Windows XP/2003:
Windows versions prior to Windows Vista use a component called Dr. Watson to generate crash dumps. It is part of the operating system and doesn't need special installation. To enable automatic crash dump generation in case of application crashes follow these steps:

• Click the Start button and select "Run".
• Type "drwtsn32.exe" into the text field and click "OK".
• Copy the settings from the screenshot except the path values.

The settings become active immediately, no reboot is required. If you haven't changed the path values the crash dump can later be found in a file called "user.dmp" located inside the "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Dr Watson\" directory. In addition please be aware that you may need to disable the self protection mechanisms incorporated into our products in order for Dr. Watson to be able to create the dump file.

 
Windows Vista/2008/7/8:
Since Windows Vista application crashes are no longer handled by Dr. Watson, but by a component called Windows Error Reporting. Unfortunately there is no convenient way to set up Windows Error Reporting, instead you need to change certain registry entries. To make things more convenient, we have provided you with a set of registry files you can import in order to enable mini dumps, full dumps or disable crash dumps completely:-
 

Download Crash Dump registry scripts for Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1

• Download the above file to your system and unpack it to a location of your choice.
• The names of the registry files are pretty self explanatory:
• "enable_mini_crash_dumps.reg" will enable mini crash dumps for all application crashes and is the setting we recommend during testing.
• "enable_full_crash_dumps.reg" will enable full crash dumps for all application crashes and should only be used after a developer requests a full crash dump.
• "disable_all_crash_dumps.reg" will disable all crash dump generation and is the Windows default behavior.

The settings become active immediately, no reboot is required. The crash dumps will be stored inside the "CrashDumps" sub-directory of your public profile (usually C:\Users\Public\CrashDumps).