Windows 7: Which Setting for "Write Debugging Information"

I have been having a recurring BSOD problem. I have ran memtest86 overnight and came back to find 0 errors which was surprising since I had assumed that was my problem. Now I am trying to open my dump file and having some trouble.

I just switched my setting so the system doesn't automatically restart, and I'm curious what to choose under "write debugging information"

3 choices are: Small Memory Dump (256 KB), Kernel Memory Dump, and Complete Memory Dump.

My next step is to write down the BSOD error info next time it happens as well as try to open my dump file. Any advice for me sevenforums? Thank you !

Hi and welcome to sevenforums

Set you setting to Kernal memory. Dont bother writing the info down we can do a much better analysis with the actual dump. so zip the dump and upload it to us.


Thanks

Ken J

Thanks Ken! Since that was the default setting, is it safe to assume the .dmp file in %\minidump\minidump.dmp is accurate?

It's unfailingly accurate in describing the state at the time of the crash, but unfortunately the state at the time of the crash is not always quite so indicative of the problem root cause

The default dump settings are fine. If you zip up and upload a few of the latest minidumps, it may be possible to offer assistance.

Alright here is my dump file thanks for the help amigos!

This particular dump is the computer equivalent of being handed a postage stamp-sized fragment of skull and asked to do a post-mortem

(It's not the dump type that's the problem though. "Kernel" or "complete" dumps wouldn't offer any additional particularly relevant info.)

Your machine is commendably clean and up-to-date in terms of drivers (kudos), but for the sake of completeness you may want to try updating the ReakTek NIC driver (there's a May version available - yours is from Feb 2009). Also, you seem to be relatively heavily invested in MS hardware peripherals (webcam, mouse/kbd?), so it would be worthwhile to install the latest versions of the relevant software, if there's anything newer than what you've got (I don't know).

Otherwise, just keep on uploading more minidumps periodically, and hopefully a pattern will emerge.

Hmmm alright will do. I unchecked the "overwrite dumps" box so I will be able to save multiple future dumps, hopefully that will help.

For some reason I can't shake the idea that it is a RAM malfunction, but yet again I ran memtest86 overnight. 14 hours and 0 errors. Any other suggestions?

Hey H2SO4,

Can you explain how you were able to see that RealTek NIC driver? I attached a .txt file of the dump info I have been looking at, and I don't see anything about the NIC on there. Can you teach me how to see the extra info that you can see on your end? Thanks!

Hello supratalljdm,

Just FYI, you don't need to uncheck "overwrite dump". In fact, it's better to have it checked for reasons not simple to explain succinctly. The setting refers only to "real" dump files (kernel & complete) which are always called simply MEMORY.DMP. By contrast, minidumps include the timestamp as part of the file name, so they simply accumulate in the \windows\minidump folder without wiping each other out as more crashes occur.

Regarding the driver, the debugger command you're looking for is 'lm' (without quotes) - as in "list modules". If you know the name of a particular module you're interested in, and you want the debugger to display additional info, use the 'v' (verbose) and 'm' (pattern match) switches with the command. For example:

0: kd> lm v m e1y60x64
start end module name
fffff880`04a00000 fffff880`04a4f000 e1y60x64 (deferred)
Image path: e1y60x64.sys
Image name: e1y60x64.sys
Timestamp: Thu Feb 19 10:12:37 2009 (499C95E5)
...

More info on the loaded modules list:

http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-loc...tml#post288658