Mystery Error Popup?

D

Dick

Guest
Alright Geeks, whats the correct term for this "thingy" in Windows XP??? Your expertise will be very much appreciated.

It's a dialogue box that opens to say "(Program name) has encountered a problem & needs to close. Then it asks if you want to report this to M$. It also lists some geek file information that no one can interpret.

This is not a "blue screen" stop error. It only shuts down the (named) program but nothing else.

Best regards, Dick
 
Geeks??? :confused: :huh: I hope in a positive way :p

it just an erro that a program has crashed, nuttin special. if you wanna get rid of them do this:

1. Open regedt32.exe

2. Go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Curr
entControlSet\CrashControl

3. Set SendAlert to 0

that's it!
 
Thanks for the reply Sboulema, it's much appreciated.

Yes, I use "Geeks" in a positive sense. Is that an inappropriate use of the term?

Does this type of error message have a name that is commonly recognized by Windows users? In trying to discuss this issue with others - calling it a "thingy" isn't very descriptive (or cool).

What does your suggested action do? Does it just get rid of only that individual error event or does it eliminate the popup reporting function altogether? Also, if it eliminates it, will I still lose the unsaved "work in process" when it crashed?

Am I correct in assuming that the popup is only reporting a crash that was actually caused by a problem within the program? Or is the popup causing the crash?

Best regards, Dick


Originally posted by sboulema
Geeks??? :confused: :huh: I hope in a positive way :p

it just an erro that a program has crashed, nuttin special. if you wanna get rid of them do this:

1. Open regedt32.exe

2. Go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Curr
entControlSet\CrashControl

3. Set SendAlert to 0

that's it!
 
hmm i would call it a send error to M$ thingie :p (really dont know a good word for it)

the register editing will hide all the send error thingies, all the other errors wil still appear.

You will still loose any unsaved work (save every 5min ;))

The popup is only reporting a crash not causing 1
 
Thanks again for the very useful information Sboulema. The pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit together now.

Since there doesn't seem to be a real name for this error reporting "thingie"; I think I'll apply for a copyright and sell that name to M$. I'll even pay you a royalty for helping to name it. M$ doesn't seem to be able to describe or even name the stuff they put in Windows - unless you're a big corporation with deep pockets to pay them to do so.

Best regards & a Happy New Year to you, Dick
 
glad i could help :D

If M$ would give all the errors in windows names it would take centuries :p
 
Hi Sboulema,

Update on the error thingie reports.

I set Send Alert to 0 as you suggested, using the Regedit menu and hexadecimal base. But I'm still getting the error popup report (one time yesterday after the change). Any ideas??

Wanted to check with you to be sure we're doing the right thing.

Best regards, Dick
 
hmmm weird. you could try a tweaking tool like tweak-xp or magictweak or x-setup to do it....
 
Go to Computer Management - Services and disable the Error Reporting Service.
As far as I know the registry setting sboulema suggested is responsible for sending alert messages to system administrators in a network not for error reporting to Microsoft.
 
Thanks for your replies guys,

Yoyo, Error Reporting was/is already disabled but the popups were still occuring.

Best regards
 
Right click My Computer
Go to Properties
Switch to the "Advanced" tab
Click "Error Reporting"
Choose "Disable Error Reporting"

That's it ;)
 
Thanks for the reply, NetRyder,

Disabling Error Reporting thru My Computer &/or Computer Management &/or Control Panel Systems are all the same process. They're just accessed different ways.

Regardless, none of these methods works in my case. Others have reported that it works for them which leads me to believe that I may have something turned off in the Services that Error Reporting needs to work properly.

Another thought (which I just started testing) is that just disabling (unchecking) Error Reporting; but leaving the "But notify me when critical errors occur" checked, may just disable the reporting to M$ but still allow the popup to open when an error occurs.

By the way, a web search for "Disabling Windows XP Application Error Reporting" results in a lot of differing ideas on how to turn this nuisance off.
 
Are you still being asked if you want to send an error report to Microsoft or do you want to get rid of this whole message popup when an application crashes? Don't think this is possible or desirable. Btw. why do you get so many error messages of this kind? Haven't seen one for quite a while now. Perhaps there are other things you should worry about?

;) Netryder, I knew there was a simple setting for it. How does it come that the more you learn the more you forget about the easy things. Going to buy Windows XP for Dummies tomorrow. :D
 
Hi Yoyo,

Haven't had a crash for awhile now so I'm not sure what I'll be seeing with the revised settings. And, yes I want to get completely rid of the Error Reporting thing,

Don't get the impression that I get a number of crashes on a regular or frequent basis. I have only two applications that misbehave. One is Studio 8, a video editing program, which is known to be "buggy" & some what unstable in certain situations. While I was working out the kinks & bugs in it, I saw perhaps 10-15 crashes within a few days. I also use an Opera 6.05 browser which will occassionally, but rarely crash.

Regardless, it occurred to me that this Error Reporting thing is a redundant & needless function unless one wants to report everything to M$ - which I don't. Think about it - if an application is going to crash, what's the point of being annoyed by a dumb & useless popup that has to be approved by the user in order for it to crash anyway?

Maybe in some situations, the information given can be useful to some one to diagnose the problem. However, if you can figure out M$ error codes, you're a much smarter person than me - & most other computer users. When I've forwarded these error codes to the applications supplier, they are ignored since most of them don't want to acknowledge that they sell buggy software. They'd rather sell you Tech Service to help you out (I say in jest) with the issue. Besides, the same error information is available in the Event Viewer even if the Error Reporting popup is shut down.

Unless I'm missing something, why not just let the damned application crash & get on with what your doing - without interuptions from Uncle Bills brownies?

Best regards, Dick
 
If anyone is still following this thread, my hunches proved to be correct. There are actually two functions lurking in the Error Reporting dialogue box. When you only disable the Error Reporting, all it shuts down is the process of sending a report to M$.

If you want to completely eliminate the Error Reporting business (just let the crash occur without the error message popping up first) then you also need to uncheck (disable) the "but notify me when critical errors occur" option.

Maybe this will help some one in the future.
 

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