Using Windows 7 Error Reporting

When enabled, the WER service monitors your operating system for faults related to operating system features and applications. By using the WER service, you can obtain more information about the problem or condition that caused the Stop error.

When a Stop error occurs, Windows displays a Stop message and writes diagnostic information to the memory dump file. For reporting purposes, the operating system also saves a small memory dump file. The next time you start your system and log on to Windows as Administrator, WER gathers information about the problem and performs the following actions:

1. Windows displays the Windows Has Recovered From An Unexpected Shutdown dialog box. To view the Stop error code, operating system information, and dump file locations, click View Problem Details. Click Check For Solution to submit the minidump file information and possibly several other temporary files to Microsoft.
2. You might be prompted to collect additional information for future errors. If prompted, click Enable Collection.
3. You might also be prompted to enable diagnostics. If prompted, click Turn On Diagnostics.
4. If prompted to send additional details, click View Details to review the additional information being sent. Then, click Send Information.
5. If prompted to automatically send more information about future problems, choose Yes or No.
6. When a possible solution is available, Action Center displays an icon in the system tray with a notification message.
7. Open Action Center to view the solution. Alternatively, you can search for View All Problem Reports in Control Panel.

If WER does not identify the source of an error, you might be able to determine that a specific driver caused the error by using a debugger, as described in the next section.