Gathering a Minidump After BSOD

If running a HeroCorp game is resulting in a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death), then gathering a Minidump and including it with your ticket might help us figure out your problem more quickly.

A Minidump is a smaller version of a full memory dump that contains essential information used for diagnosing system crashes (Blue Screens of Death - BSODs) and other critical errors. Minidumps are especially useful for debugging and troubleshooting issues that may arise with Vanguard, as well as potential conflicts between Vanguard and other system components or drivers in your system.

Here's how you can gather a Minidump to include in your ticket:

Step 1: Check for Existing Minidumps

Minidump file creation is often automatically enabled, so you may be able to just grab the necessary file (if it already exists):

1. Open File Explorer and navigate to the following folder:
   • C:\Windows\Minidump
2. Look for files with the .dmp extension. These are the minidump files. They are typically named with the format Mini<date>_<time>.dmp.
   • Example: Mini111923-01.dmp corresponds to a minidump file created on November 19, 2023, at 1:00 AM.

If you can't find any .dmp files, it means that minidump collection is not enabled on your system. Follow the steps below to enable it.

Step 2: Enable Minidump Collection

If minidumps are not being created automatically, you'll need to enable the Small Memory Dump option in Advanced System Settings:

1. Click the Windows button on your taskbar (or press the Windows key).
2. Type "Advanced System Settings" in the search bar, and click on the option called View advanced system settings.
3. In the System Properties window, under the Advanced tab, click on the Settings button under the Startup and Recovery section.
4. In the Startup and Recovery window:
   • Under the Write debugging information section, select Small memory dump (256 KB).
   • Ensure that the Write an event to the system log checkbox is checked.
   • The Dump file field should automatically be set to %SystemRoot%\Minidump (or C:\Windows\Minidump).
5. Click OK to save the settings.

Step 3: Reproduce the Crash or BSOD (only if no minidump was generated before)

Once you have enabled the minidump collection as described in Step 2, a minidump will be automatically created after any system crash or Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). However, if no minidump has been generated yet or you want to test the collection process, you can manually reproduce a crash or BSOD.