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I have a very frustrating issue. Our Windows Server running 2003 SBS SP2 is not generating crash dump files on a BSOD. I am currently troubleshooting an issue where a critical 3rd party service causes a BSOD when we try to start that service. This 3rd party's executables are on the system drive (C). For me to better troubleshoot what the problem is before I submit a support ticket, I'd like to analyze this crash dump file. Here is my server config below. Any help appreciated.

OS: Windows Server 2003 Small Business Server SP2 (32 bit edition)
Memory: 4 GB
3 Hard drive partitions: C, E, S
C: (system drive) 931 GB, pagefile size: min 7000 MB, max 8000 MB
E: (exchange drive) 886 GB, no pagefile assigned
S: (data drive) 976 GB, no pagefile assigned
System is set to Kernel Dump mode currently, but I've found that it doesn't work either when set to generate minidumps.

The frustrating thing is that the system has generated crash dumps before. The last one was from April 11, 2011. But it doesn't generate any more.

Did I overlook a setting somewhere?

EDIT: According to MS troubleshooting tips for BSODs (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/130536), see responses below.

  • The Memory.dmp file already exists and the option Overwrite Any Existing File (found in Control Panel System) is not selected. It is a good idea to leave this box checked and to move or copy the current Memory.dmp file.
    Response: The option to 'Overwrite Any Existing File' is checked

  • The paging file on the boot drive is not large enough. To use the "Write Debugging Information To" feature to obtain a complete memory dump file, the paging file on the boot drive must be at least as large as physical memory + 1 MB. When you create a kernel memory dump file, the file is usually around one-third the size of the physical memory on the system. Of course, this quantity will vary, depending on your circumstances.
    Response: RAM is 4GB. I have set the pagefile size to min 7GB, max 8GB

  • The paging file is not on the %systemroot% partition. When the STOP error occurs, the system crash dump is written out to the pagefile on the root of the %systemroot% drive.
    Response: The path to the dump file is set to %SystemRoot%\Memory.dmp

  • There is not room for the Memory.dmp file in the path specified in Control Panel for writing the memory dump.
    Response: The System drive (C) has 188 GB free space on it

  • It is possible that the SCSI controller is bad or the system crash is caused by a bad SCSI controller board.
    Response: Not sure on this one. Our server has a RAID controller using SATA drives. No SCSI as far as I know

  • If you specify a non-existent path, a dump file will not be written. For example, if you specify the path as C:\Dumpfiles\Memory.dmp and no C:\Dumpfiles folder exists, a dump file will not be written.
    Response: The path to the dump file is set to %SystemRoot%\Memory.dmp so I know it exists. Besides, it has created dump files before, (last was in April of this year) just not anymore.

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  • 1
    Do any of these conditions apply?
    – Ben Pilbrow
    May 10, 2011 at 22:45
  • Ben, I've edited original post to reflect the conditions listed by MS on your suggested page.
    – Angelo Muñoz
    May 11, 2011 at 14:07

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Hmmm, since you did not mention it ... do actually have 8GB free space on c: ?

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  • +1 More reading
    – Holocryptic
    May 10, 2011 at 22:29
  • Yes, the space remainining on C: is 188 GB.
    – Angelo Muñoz
    May 11, 2011 at 13:20
  • @Holocyptic. Yes, I have followed those guidelines. RAM is 4GB, paging file configured size is min 7 GB, max 8 GB.
    – Angelo Muñoz
    May 11, 2011 at 13:42

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