BlueScreenView 1.55

Overview

BlueScreenView is an excellent tool for administrators and interested users who are experiencing the dreaded “blue screen of death” signifying a Windows operating system that has failed again and needed to restart.

The application will search through the minidump information that is created by Windows during a crash process. It will pull out the minidump file name, the data and time of the crash, the bug check code and its four parameters which can help isolate the true cause of the problem. In addition, the software can also pull up the module or software driver that is believed to have caused the crash in the first place and display its file name, product name, file version and a description of the file.

The application itself will display a list of previous known crashes in the first pane with all the relevant minidump information. The user can select the crash they are interested to learn more about and view the device driver information in the second pane. The drivers believed to be the problem are marked in the second display.

When selecting a dump file, the package will display the complete blue screen of death as it was display quickly before the system went down. This provides a good reminder but also maintains the same visual which makes it more comfortable for users to work with and figure out what is causing the problem. Because each minidump-logged crash is shown in date order, it is also possible to route through each crash to look for any commonalities. This can help determine if it is the same issue causing the crashes, if these are related problems, or total unrelated and constitute several distinct problems.

Installation

The BlueScreenView app is a portable application and as such does not need to be installed. Windows needs to be configured to save minidump files during crashes in order for the software to be useful.

There was no adware, toolbars, spyware or malware included in the file archive.

BlueScreenView requires Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Vista, 7, and 8.

Interface

The interface is basic with a menu system, a small row of toolbar buttons and two panes. The top pane shows the minidump records and the second pane provides information about software drivers.

Pros

• See information about blue screen of death crashes using minidump records
• Examine each crash and compare between them to find common causes
• Software drivers highlighted during the crash can be seen easily
• GUI and command line interface
• Portable app

Cons

• Basic interface

Alternatives

WhoCrashed is another application that can provide useful information about Windows crashes.

Conclusion

BlueScreenView is a good reporting tool to look up Windows crash information, debug and fix the issue quickly.