4.1.8 Debugging a Crash Dump

To configure the target to generate a crash dump, use the System applet in the Control Panel. Click on the Recovery button and then select the option that enables writing debugging information to a file when a STOP occurs. That file is the crash dump file. Its default name is memory.dmp.

Specify the name of the crash dump file in the Kernel Debugger Options dialog box or use the -z command-line option to specify the name of the crash dump file.

Two utilities, DUMPCHK and DUMPREF shipped with the DDK are useful in debugging crash dumps:

DUMPCHK [options] CrashDumpFile

DUMPCHK is used to check the validity of a crash dump file.

Parameters

Options

The following are valid program options:

-?

Displays a help message. This overrides any other option specified.

-v

Verbose mode.

-p

Print header of crash dump file only, do not validate the file.

-q

Perform a quick test only.

CrashDumpFile

The name of the crash dump file.

DUMPREF [options] SourceDumpFile ShareName SymbolPath

DUMPREF is used to create a reference file to point to a dump check file in another location.

Parameters

Options

The following are valid program options:

-?

Displays a help message. This overrides any other option specified.

-d FileName

Specifies a file name for the destination.

SourceDumpFile

The name of the crash dump file.

ShareName

The name of the network share where the crash dump file is located.

SymbolPath

The path to the symbols for the crash dump file.

Comments

This utility creates a small reference file that points to the actual crash dump file. You can use the reference file as though it were the crash dump file; WinDbg KD will find the actual crash dump file out on the network. This lets you send the reference file, which is only a few bytes long, to someone for debugging, rather than sending the actual crash dump file, which may be many megabytes long.