Reporting Errors to Microsoft

I’m sure Windows users have experienced a crash of some sort and a notification message asking them to report the problem to Microsoft. Some say they don’t report since Microsoft may have access to their data which Microsoft denies. PC World gives their ideas on what to do when this happens and gives some tips to manage how often this message shows up as well.

This error message, added to the XP version of Windows, tells you the operating system halted a program that, had it been allowed to continue, might have crashed Windows. Microsoft insists it doesn’t use the information to track you, and the report could well help prevent such program failures in the future.

Still, there is some security risk: Tests by the U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability found that the “memory dump” sent to Microsoft sometimes contained information from the user’s document. In any event, the message probably doesn’t leave you in a charitable mood, and clicking the Don’t Send button will get you back to work a few seconds sooner. But you don’t have to make that decision with each crash. You can tell Windows ahead of time when it should, and should not, report such problems to Microsoft.