Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Error Reporting service

There is an error reporting feature included with Windows XP that you can use to report computer and program errors to Microsoft. Microsoft can use your reports to track and fix problems with the operating system and with programs. This article describes how you can configure error reporting in Windows X
Very Important Link:
https://winqual.microsoft.com/help/default.htm#Developers_Guide_to_WER.htm

How is information collected?
Many Microsoft software programs, including some Windows operating systems, are designed to work with the reporting service. If a problem occurs in one of these software programs, you are asked if you want to report it. You can view the details of the report before sending it, although some files might not be in a readable format.

Some software also allows you to report problems automatically instead of requesting your consent each time a problem occurs. If you use automatic reporting, you are not prompted to review the information in a report before it is sent. However, no information is collected unless you (or your system or network administrator) choose to report problems. You can choose to stop reporting problems at any time.

Enterprise customers can use the Microsoft Corporate Error Reporting Service to manage error reporting and data collection, and to choose the information that is sent to Microsoft.

What types of information can be collected?

The reporting service can collect Information about problems that interrupt you while you work and about errors that occur behind the scenes. It is important to diagnose errors that occur behind the scenes because these problems, if left unsolved, may cause additional problems such as performance or program failures.

Reports contain information that is most useful for diagnosing and solving the problem that has occurred, such as:

Where the problem happened in the software or hardware. Occasionally, empty files might be included as an initial indication of a problem.
Type or severity of the problem, if known
Files that help describe the problem (typically system or report-generated files about software behavior before or after the problem occurred)
Basic software and hardware information (such as operating system version and language, device models and manufacturers, or memory and hard disk size)
Your Internet Protocol (IP) address is also collected because you are connecting to an online service (web service) to send error reports. However, your IP address is used only to generate aggregate statistics. It is not used to identify you or contact you.

Reports might unintentionally contain personal information, but this information is not used to identify you or contact you. For example, a report that contains a snapshot of memory might include your name, part of a document you were working on, or data that you recently submitted to a website. If you are concerned that a report might contain personal or confidential information, you should not send the report.

Who can use the information and how can it be used?

Microsoft uses information about errors and problems to improve Windows, and the software and hardware designed for use with Windows operating systems. Microsoft employees, contractors, vendors, and partners may be provided access to information collected by the reporting service. However, they may use the information only to repair or improve the products that they publish or manufacture.

For example, if an error report indicates that a third-party product is involved, Microsoft may send that information to the vendor of the product. The vendor may provide the information to sub-vendors and partners; however, all parties must abide by the terms of this privacy statement.

To improve the products that run on Microsoft software, Microsoft may share aggregate information about errors and problems. Aggregate information is used for statistical analysis and does not contain specific information from individual reports, nor does it include any personal or confidential information that may have been collected from a report.
Reference: http://oca.microsoft.com/en/dcp20.asp

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