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Creating a Windows Process Dump File

 

TOPIC

This article explains how to create a dump file of a Windows process, which may help for technical support purposes.

 

DISCUSSION

In order to troubleshoot an unresponsive application it is often helpful to create a dump, i.e. a "snapshot" of the Windows process(es) associated to the application.

To create a dump file:

  • Start Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc or by right-clicking an empty area of the task bar and selecting Task Manager
  • If no Details tab is visible, click "More details" at the bottom of the dialog
  • In the Details tab, right-click the desired process and select Create dump file
  • In File Explorer, open the location displayed after the dump file has been created
  • Repeat the above if multiple processes are involved
  • Compress the file(s) to reduce the size of the transfer, e.g. right-click and select Send to/Compressed (zipped) folder

This procedure is suitable for creating a user-mode dump file. If creation of the dump file fails with an "Access denied" error, it may indicate that the process is busy running in kernel mode (e.g. code by a driver). If an application is unresponsive in this condition, a driver update may solve the issue.

Please note that the process dump may contain private information, if such data was in use by the process. It is support policy to delete any such dump files after use.

 

Article Information
Article ID:14-139
Platform:Windows
Products:All
Additional Keywords:None
Last Update:2020-03-13
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