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We have configured WER (Windows Error Reporting) to create dumps every time some applications crash.

It normally works but we have found several scenarios where it does not work. We will take as an example Winword.exe:

  1. On some cases the process simply disappears. No window, no event log, no crash dump. Nothing.
  2. On other cases a window telling you that the application has stopped working appears but automatically the application gets restarted and no crash dump is generated too.
  3. Other times the application ends as expected with the "Application stopped working" and it works normally.

Any idea about why this happens and how to trap these crashes and generate a dump?

halfer
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Ignacio Soler Garcia
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    related: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/32582279/can-i-disable-the-unhandled-exception-handler-for-a-process – Thomas Weller Oct 15 '15 at 12:46
  • related (no answer): http://stackoverflow.com/questions/30737927/windows-error-reporting-doesnt-generate-mini-dump-for-a-net-4-application-some – Thomas Weller Oct 15 '15 at 12:57
  • related: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/30457570/windows-does-not-produce-full-crash-dumps-even-though-registry-is-set-correctly – Thomas Weller Oct 15 '15 at 12:59
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    So summarizing if an application calls SetUnhandledExceptionFilter I cannot get a crash dump when it crashes? – Ignacio Soler Garcia Oct 15 '15 at 17:23
  • Hmm, I have [updated my answer](http://stackoverflow.com/a/32584145/4136325) to describe the process which I used to finally get a dump. It was possible by attaching the debugger at a time the process was known to be alive. – Thomas Weller Oct 16 '15 at 07:05
  • Unfortunately I don't have Visual Studio installed in the machines the app crashes as it is on client's machines. – Ignacio Soler Garcia Oct 16 '15 at 07:46
  • I use WinDbg. WinDbg is portable and much smaller than VS. Just install WinDbg on your machine, then copy the installation directory. Unfortunately it has a low learning curve if you're not familiar with it yet. – Thomas Weller Oct 16 '15 at 08:00

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