How to read Windows small memory dump files used for debugging (4218652)

A small memory dump file records the smallest set of useful information that may help identify why your computer has stopped unexpectedly. This option requires a paging file of at least 2 megabytes (MB) on the boot volume. On computers that are running Microsoft Windows 2000 or later, Windows 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
• The process information and kernel context (ETHREAD) for the thread that stopped
• The Kernel-mode call stack for the thread that stopped

The small memory dump file can be useful when hard disk space is limited. However, because of the limited information that is included, errors that were not directly caused by the thread that was running at the time of the problem may not be discovered by an analysis of this file.

If a second problem occurs and if Windows creates a second small memory dump file, Windows preserves the previous file. Windows gives each file a distinct, date-encoded file name. For example, Mini022900-01.dmp is the first memory dump file that was generated on February 29, 2000. Windows keeps a list of all the small memory dump files in the %SystemRoot%\Minidump folder.

To configure startup and recovery options to use the small memory dump file, follow these steps.

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click System.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
4. In the Write debugging information list, click Small memory dump (64k).
   
   To change the folder location for the small memory dump files, type a new path in the Dump File box (or in the Small dump directory box, depending on your version of Windows).

Tools to read the small memory dump file

You can load small memory dump files by using the Dump Check Utility (Dumpchk.exe). You can also use Dumpchk.exe to verify that a memory dump file has been created correctly. The Dump Check Utility does not require access to debugging symbols. The Dump Check Utility is included with the Microsoft Windows 2000 Support Tools and the Microsoft Windows XP Support Tools.

For additional information about how to use the Dump Check Utility in Windows 2000 and in Windows NT, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

For additional information about how to use the Dump Check Utility in Windows XP, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Note The Dump Check Utility is not included in the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Support Tools. To obtain the Dump Check Utility if you are using Microsoft Windows Server 2003, download and install the Debugging Tools for Windows package from the following Microsoft Web site:

This Web page also provides access to the downloadable symbol packages for Windows. To use the resources, create a folder on the disk drive where the downloaded local symbols or the symbol cache for symbol server use will reside. For example, use C:\Symbols. You can use the following symbol path with all the commands that are described in this article:

If you download the symbols to a local folder, use the path of that folder as your symbol path.

For more information about the dump file options in Windows, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Install the debugging tools

To download and install the Windows debugging tools, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

Select the Typical installation. By default, the installer installs the debugging tools in the following folder: C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows

For more info: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/315263