How to redirect error report logs from client computers to a crash-reporting server in Office XP

After you establish a crash-reporting server for logging error messages, you may need to redirect the error reports that users' computers submit to the server. You can do this either by configuring a policy setting or by adding a registry entry by using the Custom Maintenance Wizard or the Custom Installation Wizard.

This article describes how you can enforce a redirection of the DW.exe file to a crash-reporting server by configuring a policy setting or by adding a registry entry.

Adding a Policy to Enforce the Redirect of DW.exe

To enforce policy settings that are local to the crash-reporting server, you are only required to set policies in either of the following:

• The Policy.txt file (accessible through the Default Policy dialog box on the Edit menu)
  -or-
  
  
• Specific to a given bucket, the Status.txt file (accessible through the Selected Buckets' Policy dialog box on the Edit menu)

To redirect users to the local crash-reporting file server, you can use the System Policy Editor, which is included with the Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit or is available with Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 and later. Use the Office10.adm policy template, and navigate to Microsoft Office XP, Corporate Error Reporting, and then select the Error reporting location policy check box.

When users are redirected to the local crash-reporting file server, DW.exe uses the policy settings within the File Folder Tree to manage how crash data is reported.

To add a policy to enforce redirection of DW.exe, follow these steps:

1. Start the System Policy Editor and ensure that the Office10.adm template is loaded.
2. Double-click the Default User profile icon.
3. Expand the Microsoft Office XP node (click the plus [+] sign or double-click Microsoft Office XP).
4. Expand the Corporate Error Reporting node.
5. Select the Error reporting location policy check box.
6. Type the UNC or drive letter for the corporate error reporting server share.
7. Click OK.

Adding a Registry Entry to Redirect DW.exe

If all users in your organization are installing Office XP for the first time, you can change the following registry setting on their local computers to the file server that is configured for crash reporting: Setting this registry entry to a local file server is all that is needed to enable the corporate solution.

To add a registry entry to redirect DW.exe, use either the Custom Maintenance Wizard (CMW) or the Custom Installation Wizard (CIW). In the Office XP Resource Kit, start either wizard. In the Custom Installation Wizard, navigate to Change Office User Settings (p.9). Or, in the Custom Maintenance Wizard, navigate to Change Office User Settings (p.7). In the Custom Installation Wizard (p.9, Office User Settings) or the Custom Maintenance Wizard (p.7, Office User Settings), follow these steps:

1. On the left pane of either wizard, scroll down and then select Microsoft Office XP (user).
2. Click the plus (+) sign to expand Microsoft Office XP (user).
3. Scroll down and then click Corporate Error Reporting. On the right pane, double-click Error Reporting location. The Error Reporting Location Properties dialog box opens. Click Apply Changes and then provide the path to redirect.
4. Click Finish.
5. Apply the transform when you install Office for the first time. If you already installed Office XP, use the Custom Maintenance Wizard.

NOTE: To obtain the Custom Installation Wizard and Custom Maintenance Wizard, browse to the following Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit Web site, and then click the appropriate link on the right side of the page:

Testing Configuration of your Error Reporting Server

To test the configuration of your Error Reporting Server, you can use the Office XP Application Recovery tool that installs with Office XP. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start an Office program.
2. On the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Office Tools , and then click Microsoft Office Application Recovery.
3. In the Microsoft Office Application Recovery box, select the program that you started in step 1, and then click Recover Application.

This process will generate an application error in the Office program that you selected. Additionally, you can track whether the error is sent to the appropriate location after you click Send in the application error.