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This morning, my computer was turned off. I usually leave it on at night, so this must have been a crash. Starting the computer confirmed this: Windows did not shut down normally.

Later today, I went downstairs for dinner. When I got back about 30 minutes later, the computer was turned off again. And once again: Windows did not shut down normally.

The problem is that windows isn't generating any dumps. I went and checked advanced settings and it's set to do a kernel dump, but the file isn't there.

I then checked for all files ending in .DMP, which turned up nothing.

The Event Viewer isn't helping either. It just says that at a certain time, Windows was shut down in a bad way... no details.

So, I need to find a way to turn on the creation of a mini-dump, if I'm ever going to be able to analyze this. Given that the advanced settings are set to make the dump, but they're not doing it, what else can I do?

Edit: my machine is a HP Pavilion dv7 laptop. Running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1.

EDIT2: screenshot of my advanced settings on the matter: enter image description here

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If the system had crashed, it would have restarted, not shut down. Try checking for hardware problems, such as an overheating CPU. – DragonLord May 20 '11 at 14:14
i'm not sure but maybe it won't make a dump if a power problem. – barlop May 20 '11 at 14:14
Who OS are you using? Do you have the check mark for automaticly restart? It could be hardware, have you ran a hardware diagnostic tool? If you don't know how to, what brand is your computer? Where are you searching for the *.dmp file? I usually check the whole computer, some times it puts it in a user folder, some times it puts it in the c:\windows\minidump folder. – Nixphoe May 20 '11 at 14:16
@Nixphoe: Automatic restart is unchecked. I'm searching for the *.dmp file on the entire C drive. @DragonLord: Event Viewer has 0 Hardware events logged. – WebDevHobo May 20 '11 at 14:20
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if its a hardware problem windows wouldn't make a crash dump. Check your power supply and temperatures – acme64 May 20 '11 at 14:26
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As of generic help for windows, the MiniDump can be enabled under the system properties.

For XP Right Click on my computer->properties->advanced Settings->Advanced->Startup and Recovery to see your options.

For 7 Right Click on Computer->properties->advanced Settings->Advanced->Startup and Recovery to see your options.

As other posts have said, however, this may not help you.

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@Jeff_F.: Added a screenshot – WebDevHobo May 20 '11 at 14:37
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