Understanding error reporting and Microsoft Online Crash Analysis
Published: September 7, 2006
Software is complex and, like most complex things, is not perfect. Microsoft constantly strives to improve software reliability by collecting information that Microsoft and other software companies can use to improve their products. As part of that effort, Microsoft can gather information from your computer in the form of an error report when a program, application, or piece of hardware experiences a serious error.
How Microsoft uses error reports
Microsoft gathers the error reports that customers send, analyzes them, and uses the aggregate information to determine which problems are causing the most suffering. As Steve Ballmer pointed out in his Connecting with Customers executive e-mail, about 80 percent of the problems are caused by 20 percent of the errors. The error-reporting information enables Microsoft developers to identify the most serious bugs and resolve them first. So, if you submit your error reports, there’s a better chance that the bug that caused your error will be fixed in the future.
What's in an error report?
When you experience an error, Microsoft Windows XP puts together a short message that describes the error and includes other information that helps Microsoft support personnel identify and resolve the problem. If you choose to send an error report, that message is then encrypted and sent across the Internet to Microsoft. Error reports include the following information:
| • | Windows XP information. Includes the operating system version and language. |
| • | Hardware details. Includes the number of processors installed, the amount of memory available, and the hardware connected to your system. |
| • | Date and time. Indicates when the error occurred. |
| • | Error information. Includes the information Windows XP recorded about the error. |
| • | Software details. Includes detailed information about what applications were running and what the applications were doing when the error occurred. |
Microsoft goes to great lengths to protect your privacy when you submit error reports. The error report does contain a small portion of the contents of your computer's memory and the address your computer uses to connect to the Internet. Microsoft will never track the error report back to you personally (unless you specifically choose to track the error report). Also, Microsoft carefully guards this error-reporting information, and only individuals actively working on fixing problems have access to the information. For more information about what error reports contain, read the Privacy Statement for the Microsoft Error Reporting Service.
How to send an error report
If a program closes unexpectedly because of an error, Windows XP asks if you'd like to send an error report. This error report is sent directly to Microsoft and can be used by the people who created the program to fix the problem so that it doesn't occur again.
To send the error report
| • | Click the Send Error Report button. After sending the report, you can restart your program and continue using your computer. 
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Note: You need to be connected to the Internet for the error information to be sent to Microsoft.
The error-reporting process generally takes only a couple of seconds and sending an error report helps Microsoft make software more reliable. Microsoft will not typically contact you about the error report, nor will Microsoft personally notify you if the problem is fixed. To stay up to date with Microsoft software, enable Automatic Updates. Then you can automatically receive updates when they are released.
How to track your error report
Depending on the source of the error, Windows XP might display the Microsoft Online Crash Analysis (MOCA) Web site after you submit an error report. In most cases, MOCA will show you a detailed description of the type of error that you experienced. Depending on the specific error, it might even suggest a way to prevent it from happening in the future. For example, if you experience an error while using Microsoft Office XP and choose to send the error report, MOCA will analyze it. If MOCA determines that the error was caused by a problem that was resolved with Office XP Service Pack 2, MOCA will provide a link to the Office Update Web site.
If you experienced a stop-responding error (also known as a blue screen), you will be given the option to use MOCA to track the error. It's a good idea to track the errors because you can return to the Microsoft Online Crash Analysis site later to see if the problem has been fixed. Because MOCA uses the Windows Live ID to identify you, Microsoft support personnel can even contact you if they need more information.
If your problem was caused by a non-Microsoft component, such as a hardware device driver created by a third party, you should still send the error report. MOCA analyzes these errors, too. The data that MOCA collects can be forwarded to the company responsible for the driver so that they can resolve the problem you're having. Depending on the manufacturer, you may even be able to download the updated drivers using Microsoft Update after the manufacturer has fixed the problem.
Note: If MOCA tells you that the problem was caused by a device driver, you might be able to fix the problem yourself. For more information, read Troubleshooting device driver problems.
