How do I generate minidumps for process crashes in Windows XP?

Creating Minidumps for Process Crashes

When a process crashes in Windows XP, the system will not automatically create a minidump unless specific settings are configured. Here are the answers to your questions:

1. System-Generated Minidumps

• No, the system will not create a minidump for a user process when it crashes without additional configuration.

• To enable system-generated minidumps, you need to:

  • Open Control Panel and navigate to System.
  • Click on the Advanced tab.
  • Under the "Startup and Recovery" section, click the Settings button.
  • Select "Small memory dump (256 KB)" or "Complete memory dump" from the drop-down menu.

2. Programmatic Minidump Creation

• Yes, you can create minidumps programmatically using the MiniDumpWriteDump() function from the dbghelp.dll library. This provides greater control over the dump format and allows you to create dumps even in situations where the system would not

3. Effectiveness of Minidumps

• The effectiveness of minidumps in investigating a crash depends on the application and the nature of the crash. For optimized binaries, minidumps may be less useful.
• However, minidumps can be valuable for analyzing stack-related errors, access violations, and certain other types of bugs.

Additional Notes

• As recommended in the provided answer, consider upgrading to a newer version of Visual C (e.g., VC8 or VC9) for improved stability and debugging capabilities.

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