Windows XP Cookbook (Cookbooks)

Problem

You want to configure Windows' error reporting to report or ignore specific error conditions.

Solution

Using a graphical user interface

1. From the Start menu, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.

2. Click the Advanced tab.

3. Click Error Reporting, then follow the dialog to configure it.

4. By default, error reporting is enabled. To disable error reporting, click "Disable error reporting."

5. To continue to be notified when errors occur without being prompted to report the errors, click to select the "But notify me when critical errors occur" checkbox.

6. Specify whether you want to use error reporting for the Windows operating system, for programs, or for both Windows and programs.

7. To report errors only for selected programs, click Choose Programs, click All programs in this list, and then deselect the programs that you do not want to include.

8. To add a program that is not listed, click Add and type the name of the program or click Browse to find the program on your computer.

9. If many programs are listed, you may want to create an exclude list. In the Do not report errors for these programs box, click Add and type the name of each program that you want to exclude from error reporting or click Browse to find the program on your computer.

Discussion

When an error occurs, a dialog box is displayed that prompts you to report the problem to Microsoft. Windows Error Reporting (WER) is an anonymous and secure method for reporting the error condition and technical information about it to Microsoft over the Internet. Microsoft will analyze the data provided with the report to try to determine the cause of the error condition. Errors specific to non-Microsoft applications may be reported to all related program vendors for analysis and correction. Of course, not all reports get detailed scrutiny errors with the most reports get looked at first. If a similar problem has been reported by other users and information about the problem is available, you receive a link to a web page that contains information about the problem.

See Also

Comprehensive documentation about Windows Error Reporting and its uses are covered at http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/03/16/wer.html.