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Blue Screen of Death: the very name chills the hearts of Windows users who have experienced it. There's no feeling quite like seeing your work vanish and be replaced by a BSOD, which is Windows' way of telling you it has just crashed, taking whatever you had open with it. NirSoft's BlueScreenView is a kind of coroner's report on your system. It scans the minidump files created when your system crashes and displays a BSOD, collecting them all in a single list view displaying all kinds of information you can use to debug whatever it is that's crashing your computer in the first place. (And if you knew that, you wouldn't need BlueScreenView, would you?) Like other NirSoft tools, BlueScreenView is freeware.
BlueScreenView automatically scans your system's minidump files as soon as you start it, though you can refresh the program while it's running. BlueScreenView's user interface is divided horizontally into two list views: an upper window displaying Dump Files and a lower pane for displaying each file's contents. We could rearrange the column headings by dragging them and add or remove headings with the Choose Columns tool on the View menu. We could also add grid lines to the view, mark odd and even rows, generate HTML reports, and save data. We could open a properties sheet for individual entries or right-click to access a more extensive menu of choices, including copy and delete options. The Options menu includes a Lower Pane Mode menu that let us specify what data is shown in the bottom window, including raw data DumpChk Output, All Drivers, and other options.
Better still (or worse, depending on how you feel about it), BlueScreenView also displays a simulated Blue Screen Of Death that closely resembles the actual Windows BSOD in the lower pane. The program's main view displays the Bug Check Code and four parameters as well as other data that makes it easy to track down the offending driver or module. BlueScreenView clearly isn't for beginners, but coders and power users will appreciate the way it collects and presents crash data in one easy-to-use tool.
Publisher's Description
From NirSoft Freeware:
BlueScreenView scans all your minidump files created during 'blue screen of death' crashes, and displays the information about all crashes in one table. For each crash, BlueScreenView displays the minidump filename, the date/time of the crash, the basic crash information displayed in the blue screen (Bug Check Code and four parameters), and the details of the driver or module that possibly caused the crash (filename, product name, file description, and file version). For each crash displayed in the upper pane, you can view the details of the device drivers loaded during the crash in the lower pane. BlueScreenView also mark the drivers that their addresses found in the crash stack, so you can easily locate the suspected drivers that possibly caused the crash.
What's new in this version: Version 1.47 has added 'Auto Size Columns+Headers' option, which allows you to automatically resize the columns according to the row values and column headers.
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All versions:
3.9 starsout of 9 votes
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Current version:
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Results 1-9 of 9
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"I could not get this program to load any .dmp files"
Version: BlueScreenView 1.45
Pros
No pros because I could not get the program to work.
Cons
No documentation. No help files.
Summary
Very disappointing. I could not get this program to load any .dmp files. So, I was unable to view anything. There are no help files and I was unable to find any manuals on the software vendor's website.
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"Handy Tool"
Version: BlueScreenView 1.45
Pros
Easy to install, without install version creates a file on the desktop. I was in the kitchen and when I came back to the PC I saw letters and numbers on the screen and next it was rebooting. So I could not read it, because there was not enough time. After searching with Google about how to get information of BSOD I found BlueScreenView. Lukily my PC was set to make a .dmp file and with BlueScreenView I immediately saw the cause of the BSOD. No error(s) or problem(s).
Cons
There is no con!
Summary
This program is necessary for finding the cause of a Blue Screen Of Death if your PC makes .dmp files and you don't have not enough time the write down the filename that causes the BSOD after seeing it on screen in the first place.
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"Great for viewing information about BSOD"
Version: BlueScreenView 1.45
Pros
Easy to use.
Displays information regarding all BSOD's, not just the most recent so you can see if there is a pattern.Cons
It does not solve any problems or provide solutions on its own.
Summary
While this is a tool I wish I would not have to use, I have downloaded and used it several times to troubleshoot my refurbished HP desktop PC.
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"Great Tool"
Version: BlueScreenView 1.45
Pros
Easily opens .dmp files and makes them easier to read and under stand. it also provides you with troubleshooting link to the web
Cons
it doesn't solve the problems for you
Summary
Great tool that makes troubleshooting BSODs even easier. I have had one BSOD and this program made it a breeze to fix. Saves me literally hours of time at my IT job
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"Useful but had 2 used once & after 3 attempts it worked"
Version: BlueScreenView 1.40
Pros
Stop you needing to go to a specialist
Cons
Need three attempts
Summary
Worth having
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"Helps to Decode the Information from a Blue Screen"
Version: BlueScreenView 1.29
Pros
Makes more sense out of things.
Cons
The causes of Blue Screens and the resolution of the problem can still be pretty arcane at times
Summary
Helped me to make sense of a series of BSODs last summer while not providing a cure. The issue seemed to resolve itself after a time. Still it was nice to know what was happening.
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"Cool program"
Version: BlueScreenView 1.27
Pros
Easy to understand even to the begginers, one funny feature that I won't tell you.
Cons
Should have more options for advanced users.
Summary
With this program, novice users can easily determine what causes the blue screen.
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"Great tool to identify why windows crashed"
Version: BlueScreenView 1.20
Pros
Great tool to identify why windows crashed
Cons
Would need to have a clear guide to understand the displayed information.
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"Perfect for the Job -- Quck & Easy review of Mini-Dumps"
Version: BlueScreenView 1.05
Pros
Easy to use, clean interface, write info to .txt or html. Highlights the software most likely to have caused the crash as well as everything that was running.
Cons
There is nothing I did not like, it performed exactly as described.
Summary
I got this after getting a new product where the vendor nor I knew what was causing the BSOD, fired this up and it found my mini-dumps and put them in a table by date. clicking on a given dump it show the details of the dump in an easy to read format with the suspected modules that caused the crash highlighted.
In this case it highlighted one part of a set of 7 drivers assciated with a bluetooth dongle, had the OS error, addresses, and the driver that was suspected. I passed in info to the vendor that verified this was the source of the error and is working on a fix, hard to ask for more.
This is not intended to be an in-depth system review, but it did a great job pointing to the potential issue and in my case it was on the money.
