Windows Error Reporting

!ErrorReporting.md

Capturing heap dumps for investigating crashes

The following commands demonstrate a registry configuration that collects local heap dumps when a process crashes. Software developers can add these keys for processes they work on to help provide actionable data in the event of a crash during use.

Each command in the samples places the captured heap dumps in a folder C:\CrashDumps. The command can be modified before execution to use a different location.

🔗 Collecting User-Mode Dumps (Windows Dev Center)

AllProcesses.cmd

:: Capture heaps for any process crash
:: ⚠ This configuration may use a significant amount of disk space. I typically only use it for integration tests in CI.

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps" /v DumpType /t REG_DWORD /d 2
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps" /v DumpCount /t REG_DWORD /d 2
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps" /v DumpFolder /t REG_SZ /d "C:\CrashDumps"

SingleProcess.cmd

:: Capture heaps for a process 'devenv.exe'
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\devenv.exe" /v DumpType /t REG_DWORD /d 2
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\devenv.exe" /v DumpCount /t REG_DWORD /d 2
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\devenv.exe" /v DumpFolder /t REG_SZ /d "C:\CrashDumps"

VisualStudio.cmd

:: Capture heaps for common Visual Studio processes

:: devenv.exe
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\devenv.exe" /v DumpType /t REG_DWORD /d 2
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\devenv.exe" /v DumpCount /t REG_DWORD /d 2
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\devenv.exe" /v DumpFolder /t REG_SZ /d "C:\CrashDumps"

:: ServiceHub.RoslynCodeAnalysisService.exe
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\ServiceHub.RoslynCodeAnalysisService.exe" /v DumpType /t REG_DWORD /d 2
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\ServiceHub.RoslynCodeAnalysisService.exe" /v DumpCount /t REG_DWORD /d 2
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\ServiceHub.RoslynCodeAnalysisService.exe" /v DumpFolder /t REG_SZ /d "C:\CrashDumps"

:: ServiceHub.RoslynCodeAnalysisService32.exe
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\ServiceHub.RoslynCodeAnalysisService32.exe" /v DumpType /t REG_DWORD /d 2
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\ServiceHub.RoslynCodeAnalysisService32.exe" /v DumpCount /t REG_DWORD /d 2
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\ServiceHub.RoslynCodeAnalysisService32.exe" /v DumpFolder /t REG_SZ /d "C:\CrashDumps"

:: testhost.x86.exe
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\testhost.x86.exe" /v DumpType /t REG_DWORD /d 2
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\testhost.x86.exe" /v DumpCount /t REG_DWORD /d 2
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\testhost.x86.exe" /v DumpFolder /t REG_SZ /d "C:\CrashDumps"