A Windows minidump is a small file that is saved to your computer each time the computer stops unexpectedly, for example when you get a BSoD. This file is stored in the C:/Windows/minidump or C:/Winnt/minidump directory depending on your version of Windows.

Varieties of User-Mode Dump Files The difference between these dump files is one of size. Minidumps are usually more compact, and can be easily sent to an analyst. However, no dump file can provide as much information as actually debugging the crash directly with a debugger.

The lack of dump file could be because it is the boot drive crashing and PC can’t record anything. Try running PC in safe mode for a while and see if it crashes there, that will at least tell us if it is hardware or not. No drivers in safe mode so crash should be hardware if it occurs.

The minidump files will be located in %SystemRoot%/Minidump, which is generally C:/Windows/Minidump. If you’d like to upload dump files to this site, please zip them up first and attach them to a new thread.

System Error Minidump FIles: These are smaller memory dump files created when Windows crashes in a blue screen. Files Discarded by Windows Upgrade: These are system files that weren’t migrated to your new PC during a Windows Upgrade process.

Analyzing Dump Files

1. Click Search in the Taskbar and type WinDbg,
2. Right-click WinDbg and select Run as administrator.
3. Click the File menu.
4. Click Start debugging.
5. Click Open Dump file.
6. Select the Dump file from the folder location – for example, %SystemRoot%/Minidump.
7. Click Open.

Click Start, then right-click Computer. Click Properties > Advanced system Settings. Under Startup and Recovery, click Settings. Set the Write Debugging Information to create a Small Memory Dump.

If this is the case, this file can be obtained by doing the following:

1. Open the Run Command by holding down the “windows” key on your keyboard and pressing “r”
2. Type in the following: %appdata%/Cakewalk.
3. Click [OK]
4. Navigate to your Cakewalk program’s folder.
5. Navigate to the Minidumps folder.
6. Locate the . dmp files within.

Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Startup and Recovery. In the Write debugging information list, make sure the Overwrite any existing file box is unticked. Click Small memory dump (64k). Click ok/apply/ok and reboot your system. Now when Windows crashes it should write a small 64K minidump to the C://windows//minidumps folder.

Click Small memory dump (64k). Click ok/apply/ok and reboot your system. Now when Windows crashes it should write a small 64K minidump to the C://windows//minidumps folder. Ok, change the size of the Write debugging information to Kernel memory dump.

When you are unable to find dump files there can be multiple explanations. For accidental deletion. a) This can happen if you use Ccleaner or any cleaning software. The software has a box to check or un-check for cleaning dump files. Make sure you check windows tab > system > memory dumps so that it is un-checked.

Some other problems that people may have is some software creates encrypted dumps. These dumps cannot be debugged until the encryption is modified. Another problem that people may have is that they manually altered the computer to have no page file or an artificially small page file.