Patent ID: 7028056

Claim:
A method for generating a dump file the method comprising: a. generating a minidump files that does not include all volatile system memory containing at least: i. thread information for at least one running thread, ii. context information for the thread, iii. callstack information for the thread, iv. processing information for a process in which the thread is running, and v. information identifying a reason comprising one of the following reasons: callstack fault, processor fault, and application program fault, for generating the minidump file; b. storing the minidump file to a storage medium; c. allocating a buffer space in memory during an initialization process, wherein the buffer space is suitable for storing the gathered information; and d. reserving space on the storage medium suitable for writing the content of the buffer space; wherein generating the minidump file further includes initially storing the thread information, the context information, the callstack information, the process information, and the information identifying the reason for generating the minidump file to the buffer space, and then copying the minidump file from the buffer space to the storage medium and further comprising upon re-initialization, after having stored the minidump file to the storage medium, accessing the minidump file on the storage medium and using at least a portion of the minidump file to further understand an exception that was at least one reason for generating the minidump file.