What actions do I need to take to get a crash dump in ALL error scenarios?

Question

We\'re on Windows and we want to get a crash dump (possibly using MiniDumpWriteDump) for all scenarios where our application exit\'s unexpectedly.

Answer 1

I use exactly the ones you've listed, plus _set_purecall_handler, plus this handy snippet of code:

void EnableCrashingOnCrashes()
{
    typedef BOOL (WINAPI *tGetPolicy)(LPDWORD lpFlags);
    typedef BOOL (WINAPI *tSetPolicy)(DWORD dwFlags);
    static const DWORD EXCEPTION_SWALLOWING = 0x1;

    const HMODULE kernel32 = LoadLibraryA("kernel32.dll");
    const tGetPolicy pGetPolicy = (tGetPolicy)GetProcAddress(kernel32, "GetProcessUserModeExceptionPolicy");
    const tSetPolicy pSetPolicy = (tSetPolicy)GetProcAddress(kernel32, "SetProcessUserModeExceptionPolicy");
    if(pGetPolicy && pSetPolicy)
    {
        DWORD dwFlags;
        if(pGetPolicy(&dwFlags))
        {
            // Turn off the filter
            pSetPolicy(dwFlags & ~EXCEPTION_SWALLOWING);
        }
    }
}

Source: http://randomascii.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/when-even-crashing-doesnt-work/

These other articles on his site also helped me understand this: http://randomascii.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/increased-reliability-through-more-crashes/ http://randomascii.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/more-adventures-in-failing-to-crash-properly/