How to Use Dumpchk.exe to check a memory dump file

View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q156280

For a Microsoft Windows XP version of this article, see 315271 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315271/EN-US/ ) .

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SUMMARY

Dumpchk is a command-line utility you can use to verify that a memory dump file has been created correctly. Dumpchk does not require access to symbols.

You can download debugging tools for Windows products from the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/DevTools/Debugging/default.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/DevTools/Debugging/default.mspx)

Dumpchk is located in the following locations:

Windows NT 4.0 CD-ROM:
Support\Debug\<Platform>\Dumpchk.exe
Windows 2000 CD-ROM: Install the Support Tools by running Setup.exe from the Support\Tools folder on the CD-ROM. By default, Dumpchk.exe is installed to the Program Files\Support Tools folder.

MORE INFORMATION

Dumpchk has the following command-line switches:

   DUMPCHK [options] <CrashDumpFile>

     -? Display the command syntax.

     -p Prints the header only (with no validation).

     -v Specifies verbose mode.

     -q Performs a quick test. Not available in the Windows 2000.

Additional switches that are only available in Windows 2000 Dumpchk.exe version:

    -c Do dump validation.

    -x Extra file validation. Takes several minutes.

    -e Do dump exam.

    -y <Path> Set the symbol search path for dump exam. 
       If the symbol search path is empty, the CD-ROM
       is used for symbols.

    -b <Path> Set the image search path for dump exam.
       If the symbol search path is empty, <SystemRoot>\system32
       is used for symbols.

    -k <File> Set the name of the kernel to File.

    -h <File> Set the name of the hal to File.

Dumpchk displays some basic information from the memory dump file, then verifies all the virtual and physical addresses in the file. If any errors are found in the memory dump file, Dumpchk reports them. The following is an example of the output of a Dumpchk command:

   Filename . . . . . . .memory.dmp
   Signature. . . . . . .PAGE
   ValidDump. . . . . . .DUMP
   MajorVersion . . . . .free system
   MinorVersion . . . . .1057
   DirectoryTableBase . .0x00030000
   PfnDataBase. . . . . .0xffbae000
   PsLoadedModuleList . .0x801463d0
   PsActiveProcessHead. .0x801462c8
   MachineImageType . . .i386
   NumberProcessors . . .1
   BugCheckCode . . . . .0xc000021a
   BugCheckParameter1 . .0xe131d948
   BugCheckParameter2 . .0x00000000
   BugCheckParameter3 . .0x00000000
   BugCheckParameter4 . .0x00000000

   ExceptionCode. . . . .0x80000003
   ExceptionFlags . . . .0x00000001
   ExceptionAddress . . .0x80146e1c

   NumberOfRuns . . . . .0x3
   NumberOfPages. . . . .0x1f5e
   Run #1
     BasePage . . . . . .0x1
     PageCount. . . . . .0x9e
   Run #2
     BasePage . . . . . .0x100
     PageCount. . . . . .0xec0
   Run #3
     BasePage . . . . . .0x1000
     PageCount. . . . . .0x1000


   **************
   **************--> Validating the integrity of the PsLoadedModuleList
   **************

   **************
   **************--> Performing a complete check (^C to end)
   **************
   **************
   **************--> Validating all physical addresses
   **************
   **************
   **************--> Validating all virtual addresses
   **************
   **************
   **************--> This dump file is good!
   **************

If there is an error during any portion of the output displayed above, the dump file is corrupted and analysis cannot be performed.

In this example, the most important information (from a debugging standpoint) is the following:

   MajorVersion . . . . .free system
   MinorVersion . . . . .1057
   MachineImageType . . .i386
   NumberProcessors . . .1
   BugCheckCode . . . . .0xc000021a
   BugCheckParameter1 . .0xe131d948
   BugCheckParameter2 . .0x00000000
   BugCheckParameter3 . .0x00000000
   BugCheckParameter4 . .0x00000000

This information can be used to determine what Kernel STOP Error occurred and, to a certain extent, what version of Windows was in use.

The information in this article is from the Windows NT Resource Kit. For more information on Dumpchk.exe and other debugging utilities, see Appendix A in the Windows NT 3.51 Resource Kit Update and Update 2.

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

119490 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/119490/ ) Checking the Crashdump file for corruption