Creating Memory Dumps on Windows

This Article Applies to:

Microsoft Windows Operating Systems

In the event that your operating system crashes, you may be required to generate a complete memory dump to provide additional information to our technical support team. The dump file can then be used by developers to understand why the crash has occurred and help them in providing an accurate solution to the issue.

Memory Dump Setup

Download notmyfault and save it to the desktop. This tool will help cause a BSOD if needed.

Enabling a Complete Memory Dump

Press the Windows key with the letter R to open the run command
Type sysdm.cpl and click Ok to open the System Properties page
Select the Advanced tab
Under Startup and Recovery options choose Settings
From the drop-down menu select Complete memory dump
Note the path where the dump file will be saved for later
Click Ok

Generating Memory Dumps

Induce the issue on your device
Do one of the following:
- If the issue by itself causes a BSOD, proceed to the Sending Dump Files for Analysis section below
- If the issue by itself does not cause a BSOD (e.g. an application hang), allow a minute for all services and processes to react, then run “notmyfault”. This will cause a BSOD

Sending Dump Files for Analysis

After generating the file, send it to the support agent who requested the data. If the file is too large to be emailed, please upload it to our FTP server (see Uploading Files to Avast FTP Server), then provide the name of the uploaded file to the agent so they can locate it on the server.