Windows NT Does Not Save Memory Dump File After a Crash

 Last reviewed: November 10, 1997
Article ID: Q130536
3.50 WINDOWS kbusage kbtshoot

The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.5, and 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.5, and 4.0

You can configure Windows NT to dump system memory to a file called MEMORY.DMP when a severe error (called a STOP error or fatal system error) occurs. This log file can be valuable for debugging the cause of the STOP error.

NOTE: Before troubleshooting the problem, ensure that the computer is properly configured to save a crash dump file. For more information, see Chapter 5 of your Windows NT Workstation or Windows NT Server "System Guide."

The following are several reasons why the MEMORY.DMP file is not being created when your computer encounters a STOP message:

  1. The MEMORY.DMP file already exists and the option Overwrite Any Existing File (found in Control Panel System) is not selected. It is a good idea to leave this box checked and to move or copy the current MEMORY.DMP file.

  2. The paging file on the system drive is not large enough. To use the Write Debugging Information To feature, the paging file on the system drive must be large enough to hold all of physical RAM plus 1 megabyte.

  3. The paging file is not on the system root partition. When the STOP error occurs, the system crash dump is written out to the pagefile on the root of the system drive (the drive of the %SYSTEMROOT% directory).

  4. There is not room for the MEMORY.DMP file on the %SYSTEMROOT% partition. Although you can change the path for the location of the dump file using Control Panel, Windows NT writes the debugging information to the %SYSTEMROOT% partition first, and then moves the dump file to the path specified.

  5. It is possible that the SCSI controller is bad or the system crash is caused by a bad SCSI controller board.

  6. Certain computers and SCSI controllers do not permit the crash dump information to be created. To determine if more information is available, query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

          <your computer model> and MEMORY.DMP

NOTE: The administrator can configure the computer to generate system event log and to send alerts to specific computers or users upon a system crash. This is a very useful feature of Windows NT for monitoring systems for system crashes when away from computers and when system configured for automatic reboot.

KBCategory: kbusage kbtshoot
KBSubcategory: nthowto ntstop
Additional reference words: prodnt 3.50 debug trap page file
Keywords : nthowto ntstop kbtshoot kbusage
Version : 3.50
Platform : WINDOWS

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Last reviewed: November 10, 1997
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