Need help for collecting dumps and sizing pagefile

[pokeefe0001]

Sorry if this is a duplicate post. I thought I asked these questions a few days ago but don't see the thread.

I've had a few BSODs lately and dumps weren't collected. I think that was because I was asking for a full dump and didn't have a large enough pagefile. I switched to collecting a minidump but don't know if that was a smart thing to do.

So my first question: Is a minidump sufficient for debugging all BSODs? Most BSODs? Typical BSODs? Any BSODs?

And I've got a whole other set of questions if I need to collect full dumps.

I've got 12GB of memory. Somewhere I read that requires 13GB of pagefile. Is that true? I have "System managed size" specified and Windows allocated only 8GB. If I manually set a custom size what should I specify for Initial and Maximum? I assume Max should be the 13GB (or whatever value that should be), but what should I use for initial? I suspect I need very little page space except when Windows needs to collect a dump and then I need lots.

I have a relatively small SSD C: drive and pagefile is already the largest thing on it (followed closely by hiberfile). Should I move pagefile to a hard drive?

 

[Beast52702]

I am not 100% sure about the pagefile, but most systems are fine if you allow it to be system managed.

About the dump profile: I have personally asked the same question before and Jonathan_King(one of the very reputable debuggers) told me to use the kernel dump option, as this will give both types of dump files.

Hope this helps, and Good Luck

MP

 

[pokeefe0001]

Very strange. I changed the dump option to kernel and I got a popup saying I did a large enough pagefile to collect a dump - I needed at least 400MB. That was with Windows saying it had allocated 8GB. But that was with my selecting only the C: drive for page space. But when I selected "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives" I didn't get the popup any more (even though I still have a pagefile on only the C: drive). Any idea what that popup was about? I think I'll reboot and see if I get more page space allocated.

 

[Beast52702]

To be perfectly honest I do not know what that window was about.

Has your system bsod again? Are there any minidump files on your computer? Try looking in C:\Windows\minidump

The minidump folder may be hidden, If you cannot find the folder, go to folder options in control panel and enable viewing hidden files or folders.

Follow the posting instructions for BSOD(stickied at top of Crashes page), as this will give the other debuggers the information needed to help you.

 

[pokeefe0001]

No, my system hasn't crashed again. I got that popup when changing the system failure option from mini dump to kernel dump. Actually, I got that popup twice although I wasn't aware of having changed any option the second time. As far as I know I now am going to take kernel dump on the next BSoD and I've got Windows managing page space on all my drives (including a USB-connected external expansion drive, I guess!), but Windows has still allocated pagefile only on my C: drive.

I'll just have to wait for my next crash to see what happens.

 

[Corazon]

I think that window you got is just an advisory telling you "you need so-and-so much space on the pagefile for this setting to work correctly" - it's not actually saying that your pagefile is too small, which obviously it isn't.
On a side note, since you have so much RAM I really don't think you need a gigantic 13GB pagefile anyway. Personally I would set it manually and leave it at, say, 5GB (5120MB) for both initial and maximum values. No need to have pagefiles on any partitions other than C: either (though you could relocate it to any other partition instead if you want to get it off the SSD altogether).

 

[pokeefe0001]

But if I want/need a full dump I need a pagefile larger than 12GB, don't I? If so I need to know if I will ever need a full dump. I'm not sure if the answer I got was "No", "Probably not", or "Not usually".

Pat