Question : Complete memory dump not available for servers with >=2GB RAM : other options WinDbg : blue screen crash

From http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307973  it said
Complete Memory Dump is not avaible for computers
with 2GB RAM or more.

Our Win2003 server kept crashing with blue screen & when it boots
up, it would take a long time to do chkdsk (dirty bit ?) : HP wanted a
complete memory dump before they can investigate as Event Viewer
showed practically nothing.  From the past several crashes/BSOD,
there's no dump file in the directory even though we've configured
the server for Complete Memory Dump - was this due to the server
having 2GB memory?

What other alternative can we have?  Kernel dump only dumps in
memory & on reboot, this is gone.

Is WinDbg the next option?  Anybody here analyze / read Windbg
dumps?

Answer : Complete memory dump not available for servers with >=2GB RAM : other options WinDbg : blue screen crash

sunhux:

How big is the paging file on the server?  According to the document you linked, if you want to save the kernel dump, you need size of RAM + 16MB for 32-bit systems and + 128MB for 64-bit systems:

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The Kernel Memory Dump option records only kernel memory. This option stores more information than a small memory dump file, but it takes less time to complete than a complete memory dump file. The file is stored in theDump Filebox (%SystemRoot%\Memory.dmp by default), and any previous kernel or complete memory dump files are overwritten if the Overwrite any existing file check box is selected. If you set this option, you must have a sufficiently large paging file on the boot volume. The required size depends on the amount of RAM in your computer (although the maximum amount of space that must be available for a kernel memory dump on a 32-bit system is 2 GB plus 16 MB; on a 64-bit system, the maximum amount of space that must be available for a kernel memory dump is the size of the RAM plus 128 MB). The following table contains guidelines for the size of the paging file:
Collapse this tableExpand this table
RAM size      Paging file should be no smaller than
256 MB–1,373 MB      1.5 times the RAM size
1,374 MB or greater      32-bit system: 2 GB plus 16 MB
64-bit system: size of the RAM plus 128 MB
To specify that you want to use a kernel memory dump file by modifying the registry, set the CrashDumpEnabled DWORD value to 2. For example, type the following information at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

wmic recoveros set DebugInfoType = 2

To specify that you want to use the D:\Dump\Mem.dmp file as your memory dump file by modifying the registry, set the DumpFile Expandable String Value to D:\Dump\Mem.dmp. For example, type the following information at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

wmic recoveros set DebugFilePath = D:\Dump\Mem.dmp

To specify that you do not want to overwrite any previous kernel or complete memory dump files by modifying the registry, set the Overwrite DWORD value to 0. For example, type the following information at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

wmic recoveros set OverwriteExistingDebugFile = 0

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