Troubleshooting a Microsoft Windows* crash using built-in tools such as crash dumps, Event Viewer, and Reliability Monitor can help you identify the root cause.
Here's a step-by-step guide:
- Check for system updates: Ensure that your Windows operating system and all drivers are up-to-date. Sometimes crashes occur due to outdated software or incompatible drivers.
- Enable automatic crash dumps: Ensure that your system is configured to create crash dumps. To do this:
- Right-click This PC or Computer on your desktop or in File Explorer.
- Select Properties.
- Click Advanced system settings on the left.
- Under the Advanced tab, click Settings under the Startup and Recovery section.
- Make sure that Write an event to the system log and Automatically restart are checked. Also, set the Dump file to a location on your system drive.
- Collect crash dumps: When a crash occurs, a memory dump file (usually with a .dmp extension) is created. Collect this file for further analysis. You can use tools like WinDbg or other debugging tools to analyze the dump file.
- Use event viewer:
- Open the Event Viewer by pressing Windows + X and selecting Event Viewer.
- Navigate to Windows Logs > System.
- Look for any critical errors or warnings around the time of the crash. These entries might provide information about the cause of the crash.
- Review application and system logs:
- In Event Viewer, check the Application and Security logs for any errors or warnings related to software or security issues.
- Use reliability monitor:
- Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog, type perfmon and press Enter.
- In the Performance Monitor, expand Monitoring Tools, then select Reliability Monitor.
- Look for red Critical Events marked with an X on the date of the crash. Click the specific date to get more details.
- Check for faulty drivers:
- Open the Device Manager (Windows + X and select Device Manager).
- Look for any devices with a yellow triangle, indicating driver issues.
- Update or reinstall drivers for any problematic devices.
- Research online: Search online for the error codes or messages you find in the crash dumps, Event Viewer, or Reliability Monitor. Online communities or support forums might have insights into specific issues.