I have a couple computers that are getting blue screens on Win7. When I check the event logs, it shows that it shut down unexpectedly, but there isn't a "Save Dump" option like in XP. Where are the STOP codes saved in Win7?

Check in (%systemroot%\minidumps like c:\windows\minidumps). Use Microsoft Skydrive to upload dump files and I will check them for you. If you want to debug dump files without my help, use Windbg. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Microsoft Student Partner Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Security Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration

Hi, Please perform System Restore to the point when the issue hadn’t been occurring. After that, you may test this issue in Clean Boot and Safe Mode to determine the possible cause. If it works fine in Clean Boot, the root cause can be the third party software. If the issue reoccurs in Clean Boot, but works fine in Safe Mode, the cause can be the incompatible hardware drivers. You may narrow down the causes in Device Clean Boot. Device Clean Boot ================= 1. Click Start, type "devmgmt.msc" (without quotation marks) in the Search bar and press Enter. 2. Expand "Sound, video and game controllers". 3. Right click on your sound card and then click "Properties. 4. In the dropdown menu of Device Usage, please choose "Do not use this device (disable)" and click OK. 5. Please use the same method to disable other dubious hardware such as: internal modem, network card and CD-R drive. Please note some devices such as video adapter are not available to be disabled. · If the issue persists, would you please upload more minidump files for further research? Collect Minidump Files ================= 1. Click "Start", input "SYSDM.CPL" (without quotation marks) in the “Search” bar and press “Enter”. 2. Switch to the "Advanced" tab and click the "Settings" button under "Startup and Recovery". 3. Under "Write debugging information" section, make sure the "Small memory dump (128KB)" option is selected. 4. Make sure "%SystemRoot%\Minidump" is in the "Small dump directory" open box and click “OK”. If the Blue Screen appears again, please refer to the following steps to collect memory dump files: 1. Click “Start”, type “%SystemRoot%\Minidump" (without quotation marks) in “Search” bar and press “Enter”. 2. Go to your Desktop, right-click on it and create a new folder named "Dump". 3. Copy all the memory dump files (looks like [Mini092008-01.dmp]) in Minidump to this folder. 4. Right-click on the Dump folder, click "Send To", and click "Compressed (zipped) Folder". 5. Please send the ZIP file to us. You can refer to the following link to upload the information: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproui/thread/4fc10639-02db-4665-993a-08d865088d65 You may also analyze them with Debugging Tools by yourself. You can install it and it’s Symbol Packages from the following link: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/Devtools/Debugging/default.mspx WinDbg will tell you the possible cause. For more information, please read Microsoft KB Article: How to read the small memory dump files that Windows creates for debugging. If no clue can be found, you may contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support (CSS) via telephone so that a dedicated Support Professional can assist with your request. To troubleshoot this kind of kernel crash issue, we need to debug the crashed system dump. Unfortunately, debugging is beyond what we can do in the forum. Please be advised that contacting phone support will be a charged call. To obtain the phone numbers for specific technology request please take a look at the web site listed below: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;OfferProPhone#faq607 Regards, Sabrina TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees, and confers no rights. |Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

So is there no log of the actual error like in XP? Having to look at dump files seems a little tedious.

Please upload them so that I analyze them. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Microsoft Student Partner Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Security Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration

I have the WinDbg and installed the symbol package. I have specified C:\Symbols for the path, but should I be directing it to a specific pdb folder? EDIT: I changed the symbols path from C:\Symbols to SRV*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols, and saw I had to click on the ! analyze -v link. Now it's showing the stop codes.

Great then, if you want that I analyze them then upload them. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Microsoft Student Partner Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Security Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration

Hi, How are you? I would appreciate it if you could drop me a note to let me know the status of the issue. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let me know. I am happy to be of further assistance. :) Regards, Sabrina TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.comThis posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees, and confers no rights. |Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Sabrina, I'll try using the WinDbg program, but it would be nice to have a log file like there was in XP to see at a glance what the issue was without having to load dump files.

Hi, What’s the log which you checked in Windows XP? for BSOD? As I know, the dump file is the most effective one that we can check for the BSOD issue. Also, you may upload the dump files and we can perform further research. Regards, Sabrina TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees, and confers no rights. |Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

I checked in Event Viewer > Windows Logs > System, the same place where it showed up in Win XP. I have the WinDbg program and have checked out the dump file myself so I know what the issue is. What I'm trying to say though, is It was easier in XP to look quickly at the event viewer and see the stop code and a quick description. It was easier than either having to setup the debugger, or uploading them here or to other forums, and I'm not sure why it was removed from Windows.