Memory Dump Files

When a Stop error occurs, Windows Vista displays information that can help you analyze the root cause of the problem. Windows Vista writes the information to the paging file (Pagefile.sys) on the %SystemDrive% root by default. When you restart the computer in normal or safe mode after a Stop error occurs, Windows Vista uses the paging file information to create a memory dump file in the %SystemRoot% folder. Analyzing dump files can provide more information about the root cause of a problem and lets you perform offline analysis by running analysis tools on another computer.

You can configure your system to generate three types of dump file:

  • Small memory dump files. Sometimes referred to as "minidump" files, these dump files contain ...

Get Windows Vista® Resource Kit, Second Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.