overview of memory dump file options for windows

8/16/2019 Overview of Memory Dump File Options for Windows

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Summary

You can configure the following operating systems to write debugging information:

Windows 2000

Windows XP

Windows Server 2003

Windows Vista

Windows Server 2008

Windows 7

Windows Server 2008 R2

Overview of memory dump file options for Windows

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Windows 8

Windows Server 2012

Windows 8.1

Windows Server 2012 R2

The debugging information can be written to different file formats also known as memory dump

files

when your computer stops unexpectedly because of a Stop error also known as a "blue

screen," system crash, or bug check

. You can also configure Windows not to write debugging

information to a memory dump file.

Windows can generate any one of the following memory dump file types:

Complete memory dump

Kernel memory dump

Small memory dump 64 KB

Automatic memory dump

More information

Complete memory dump

A complete memory dump records all the contents of system memory when your computer stops

unexpectedly. A complete memory dump may contain data from processes that were running

when the memory dump was collected.

If you select the Complete memory dump option, you must have a paging file on the boot

volume that is sufficient to hold all the physical RAM plus 1 megabyte MB .

If a second problem occurs and another complete memory dump or kernel memory dump

file is

created, the previous file is overwritten.

Notes

In Windows Vista, in Windows 7, in Windows Server 2008, and in Windows Server 2008 R2,

the paging file can be on a partition that differs from the partition on which the operating

system is installed.

In Windows Vista and in Windows Server 2008, to put a paging file on another partition,

you must create a new registry entry that is named DedicatedDumpFile. You can define the

size of the paging file by using a new registry entry that is named DumpFileSize.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn383663(v=vs.85).aspx


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For more information about how to do this, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

969028 How to generate a kernel or a complete memory dump file in Windows Server

2008

In Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2, you do not have to use the

DedicatedDumpFile registry entry to put a paging file onto another partition.

The Complete memory dump option is not available on computers that are running a 32‐bit operating system and that have 2 gigabytes GB

or more of RAM. For more information,

see the "Specify what happens when the system stops unexpectedly" topic on the following

Microsoft TechNet Web site:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en‐us/library/cc778968 WS.10 .aspx

Kernel memory dump

A kernel memory dump records only the kernel memory. This speeds up the process of recordinginformation in a log when your computer stops unexpectedly. You must have a pagefile large

enough to accommodate your kernel memory. For 32‐bit systems, kernel memory is usually

between150MB and 2GB. Additionally, on Windows 2003 and Windows XP, the page file must be

on the boot volume. Otherwise, a memory dump cannot be created.

This dump file does not include unallocated memory or any memory that is allocated to User‐

mode programs. It includes only memory that is allocated to the kernel and hardware abstraction

layer HAL

in Windows 2000 and later, and memory allocated to Kernel‐mode drivers and other

Kernel‐mode programs. For most purposes, this dump file is the most useful. It is significantly

smaller than the complete memory dump file, but it omits only those parts of memory that areunlikely to have been involved in the problem.

If a second problem occurs and another kernel memory dump file or a complete memory dump

file is created, the previous file is overwritten when the 'Overwrite any existing file' setting is

checked.

Small memory dump

A small memory dump records the smallest set of useful information that may help identify whyyour computer stopped unexpectedly. This option requires a paging file of at least 2 MB on the

boot volume and specifies that Windows 2000 and later create a new file every time your

computer stops unexpectedly. A history of these files is stored in a folder.

This dump file type includes the following information:

The Stop message and its parameters and other data

A list of loaded drivers

The processor context PRCB for the processor that stopped

The process information and kernel context EPROCESS

for the process that stopped

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc778968(WS.10).aspxhttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/969028


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Definitions

Boot volume: The volume that contains the Windows operating system and its support files.

The boot volume can be, but does not have to be, the same as the system volume.

System volume: The volume that contains the hardware‐specific files that you must have to

load Windows. The system volume can be, but does not have to be, the same as the boot

volume. The Boot.ini, Ntdetect.com, and Ntbootdd.sys files are examples of files that arelocated on the system volume.

Registry values for startup and recovery

The following registry value is used:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl

CrashDumpEnabled REG_DWORD 0x0 = NoneCrashDumpEnabled REG_DWORD 0x1 = Complete memory dump

CrashDumpEnabled REG_DWORD 0x2 = Kernel memory dump

CrashDumpEnabled REG_DWORD 0x3 = Small memory dump 64KB

CrashDumpEnabled REG_DWORD 0x7 = Automatic memory dump

Additional registry values for CrashControl:

0x0 = Disabled

0x1 = Enabled

AutoReboot REG_DWORD 0x1

DumpFile REG_EXPAND_SZ %SystemRoot%\Memory.dmp

LogEvent REG_DWORD 0x1

MinidumpDir REG_EXPAND_SZ %SystemRoot%\Minidump

Overwrite REG_DWORD 0x1

SendAlert REG_DWORD 0x1

NOTE: You must restart Windows in order for your changes to take affect.

Test to make sure that a dump file can be created

For more information about how to configure your computer to generate a dump file for testing

purposes, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

244139 Windows feature lets you generate a memory dump file by using the keyboard

Default dump type options

Windows 2000 Professional: Small memory dump 64 KB

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/244139https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn383663(v=vs.85).aspx


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Windows 2000 Server: Complete memory dump

Windows 2000 Advanced Server: Complete memory dump

Windows XP Professional and Home Edition

: Small memory dump 64 KB

Windows Server 2003 All Editions : Complete memory dump

Windows Vista All Editions

: Kernel memory dump

Windows Server 2008 All Editions


Windows 7 All Editions : Kernel memory dump

Windows Server 2008 R2 All Editions


Windows 8 and 8.1 All Editions

: Automatic memory dump

Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 All Editions : Automatic memory.dmp

Maximum paging file size

Maximum paging file size is limited as follows:

x86 x64 IA‐64

Maximum size of a paging file 4 gigabytes non‐

PAE

16 terabytes PAE

16 terabytes 32 terabytes

Maximum number of paging

files

16 16 16

Total paging file size 64 gigabytes non‐

PAE

256 terabytes PAE

256

terabytes

512

terabytes

Technical support for x64‐based versions of Microsoft Windows

Your hardware manufacturer provides technical support and assistance for x64‐based versions of Windows. Your hardware manufacturer provides support because an x64‐based version of

Windows was included with your hardware. Your hardware manufacturer might have customized

the installation of Windows with unique components. Unique components might include specific


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device drivers or might include optional settings to maximize the performance of the hardware.

Microsoft will provide reasonable‐effort assistance if you need technical help with your x64‐based

version of Windows. However, you might have to contact your manufacturer directly. Your

manufacturer is best qualified to support the software that your manufacturer installed on the

hardware.

For product information about Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, visit the following

Microsoft Web site:http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/default.mspx

For product information about x64‐based versions of Microsoft Windows Server 2003, visit the

following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/64bit/x64/editions.mspx

Properties

Article ID: 254649 ‐ Last Review: 01/04/2016 18:19:00 ‐ Revision: 26.0

Applies to

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard x64 Edition

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter x64 Edition

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise x64 Edition

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition for Itanium‐Based Systems

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition for Itanium‐based Systems

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition 32‐bit x86

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition 32‐bit x86

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition 32‐bit x86

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition

Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Update Rollup 2

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/64bit/x64/editions.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/default.mspx


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Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server

Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition

Windows Server 2008 for Itanium‐Based Systems

Windows Server 2008 Datacenter

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise

Windows Server 2008 Standard

Windows Web Server 2008

Windows Vista Business

Windows Vista Enterprise

Windows Vista Home Basic

Windows Vista Home Premium

Windows Vista Ultimate

Windows Server 2008 Datacenter without Hyper‐V

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise without Hyper‐V

Windows Server 2008 Foundation

Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise

Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard

Windows Web Server 2008 R2

Windows 7 Home Basic

Windows 7 Home Premium

Windows 7 Professional

Windows 7 Service Pack 1


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overview of memory dump file options for windows

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