How to interpret BSOD

Jonathan_King · 31 Oct 2009

I very rarely get BSODs, but when I do, how do I interpret the error messages? How can I use them to diagnose the problem?

sup3rsprt · 31 Oct 2009

they usually give you a bugcheck code in hexadecimal which you can google for.

also, analyzing the minidumps will give you information about it.

Jonathan_King · 31 Oct 2009

What are the minidumps, and where are they stored?

sup3rsprt · 31 Oct 2009

refer to the excellent sticky written by H2SO4

https://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-d...ash-dumps.html

sup3rsprt · 31 Oct 2009

Well I don't know if he wrote the location of the minidumps, but they are usually saved here:

%SystemRoot%\Minidump

Where %SystemRoot% usually equals C:\Windows

H2SO4 · 31 Oct 2009

sup3rsprt said:

Well I don't know if he wrote the location of the minidumps, but they are usually saved here:

%SystemRoot%\Minidump

Where %SystemRoot% usually equals C:\Windows

Good point. I should probably add some more detail around "how to collect info for others to analyse".

sup3rsprt · 31 Oct 2009

H2SO4 said:

Good point. I should probably add some more detail around "how to collect info for others to analyse".

Nice :) It would be a welcome addition indeed.

Keep up the great work

usasma · 31 Oct 2009

First place to start is with the pinned topic at the top of the forums: https://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-d...ash-dumps.html

There's also a bunch of stuff on my web page here: BSOD

And you can read up in the help file of the Windows Debugging Tools.
You can read the book "Windows Internals, 5th Edition" by Russinovich, Solomon, and Ionescue
You can read the book "Advanced Windows Debugging" by Hewardt and Pravat

Jonathan_King · 16 Jun 2010

Thanks guys, I think I got it now.

Just thought it would be interesting in bumping this old thread.

ttran · 16 Jun 2010

you are expert now Jonathan, it's funny to see your thread asking about crash and minidump