How to establish local crash-reporting server for users to submit error reports when Office XP crashes (309267)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office XP Professional
  • Microsoft Office XP Small Business
  • Microsoft Office XP Standard
  • Microsoft Office XP Students and Teachers
  • Microsoft Office XP Developer
  • Microsoft Access 2002
  • Microsoft Excel 2002
  • Microsoft FrontPage 2002
  • Microsoft Outlook 2002
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2002
  • Microsoft Word 2002
This article was previously published under Q309267
The Microsoft Office 2003 version of this article is available from Office Online. To see Office Online, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011402421033.aspx

IN THIS TASK

SUMMARY

The Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit includes a new utility, Corporate Error Reporting, that enables administrators to manage a new feature of Office, the DW.exe crash-reporting tool. You can configure a local server on your network to accept error reports that are generated by users of Office XP. This article discusses how you can set up a local crash-reporting server that allows users to submit error reports when Office XP crashes.

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Establishing a Local Crash-Reporting Server

DW.exe is a feedback tool that Microsoft uses to analyze and develop fixes for instances of crashes on users' computers. DW.exe is included with all editions of Office and is installed by default with Office XP.

DW.exe starts automatically whenever a crash is detected. The program that crashes is automatically shut down. Before relevant crash data can be lost, DW.exe captures user settings that are related to the crash from both the registry and the current memory block where the program is running. DW.exe then packages the data and any supporting files, such as the file that was being worked on at the time of the crash, templates if needed, and any associated files in use by the program during the crash, and submits the information to Microsoft for analysis.

You can use Corporate Error Reporting to redirect and configure a user's computer for reporting crash data. To redirect a user's computer to an alternate location, you change the URL in the registry entry DWFileTreeRoot to a different URL, drive alias, or UNC. Note that there must be a File Folder Tree at the location specified. If the File Folder Tree does not exist with the correct permissions and security, DW.exe will not write crash-reporting data to the specified location or to Microsoft.

The administrator creates a File Folder Tree for use with Corporate Error Reporting. To create a File Folder Tree, an administrator must have administrative permissions on the server where the File Folder Tree will be created.

A crash-reporting server must have the following:
  • Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 6a or Microsoft Windows 2000
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 or later
  • 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM
  • An NTFS-formatted disk drive with at least 2 gigabytes (GB) to 8 GB of hard disk space for the File Folder Tree
To establish a local crash-reporting server:
  1. Install the Office XP Resource Kit on the server where the File Folder Tree will be stored.
  2. Create a File Folder Tree on a share that is accessible to users who will report crashes.
  3. Configure Default and Selected Buckets' policy settings by using the Corporate Error Reporting menu options Default Policy and Selected Buckets' Policy (on the Edit menu).
  4. Set the DWFileTreeRoot registry setting on all users' computers with the UNC or drive alias where the root folder of the File Folder Tree is located.
  5. To set a registry setting on a user's computer, do one of the following:
    • Use the System Policy Editor and load the Office10.ADM template.
    • Add the registry setting to a transform by using the Add Registry Entries page of the Custom Installation Wizard or the Custom Maintenance Wizard.
    • Capture the configuration of a user's computer by using the Profile Wizard, and then propagate that configuration to all users with a customized OPS file.
Before DW.exe can begin reporting crash data to a local crash-reporting server, an administrator must create a File Folder Tree in which to store crash information. Use the following procedure to establish a reporting share on a local file server.

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Creating File Folder Tree

Before you create a File Folder Tree, you should decide what server configuration to use. The following will help you to decide:
  • You need a share with at least 2 GB of hard disk space available on an NTFS-formatted drive.
  • A File Folder Tree must be created on an NTFS-formatted drive to correctly configure permissions and security settings.
  • Regardless of company size, Corporate Error Reporting will not require a lot of extra space. However, you might need more space if you choose to track more than the default number of crash files. For most cases, 2 GB should correctly handle all crashes for an entire corporation.
  • If you prefer, you can create two or more crash-reporting file servers and direct users to the appropriate one (for example, Engineering, Accounting, or Sales).
  • If you create a single crash-reporting share, all users in the company will need access to that share. If the share is not accessible to all users, you may need to create multiple crash-reporting servers. See the security settings in the following procedure for what permissions should be set for each folder to allow users access to the File Folder Tree.
To create a File Folder Tree:
  1. Create a folder on the drive, beginning one folder below the root of the drive. You can give the folder any name you want, but FileFolderTree may be the easiest to remember.
  2. Share this new folder on the server.
  3. Under the folder that you created and shared, create these folders: Cabs, Counts, Status.

    For example:

    <drive letter>\FileFolderTree\
    Cabs
    Counts
    Status
  4. Set the security for each folder according to the following options:

    • Cabs

      For Windows 2000, clear the Allow inheritable permissions from parent to propagate to this object check box.

      For Windows NT, clear the Replace Permissions on Subdirectories check box (default) for the root or parent directory of this folder.

      Allow List Folder Contents to Everyone.

      Allow Write to Everyone.
    • Counts

      For Windows 2000, clear the Allow inheritable permissions from parent to propagate to this object check box.

      For Windows NT, clear the Replace Permissions on Subdirectories check box (default) for the root or parent directory of this folder.

      Allow Read to Everyone.

      Allow Write to Everyone.
    • Status

      For Windows 2000, clear the Allow inheritable permissions from parent to propagate to this object check box.

      For Windows NT, clear the Replace Permissions on Subdirectories check box (default) for the root or parent directory of this folder.

      Allow Read to Everyone.

      Allow List Folder Contents to Everyone.
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Testing the Error Reporting Server Configuration

To test the configuration of your Error Reporting Server, you can use the Office XP Application Recovery tool that installs with Office XP. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Start an Office program.
  2. On the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Office Tools , and then click Microsoft Office Application Recovery.
  3. In the Microsoft Office Application Recovery box, select the program that you started in step 1, and then click Recover Application.
These steps generate an application error in the Office program that you selected so that you can track to see that it is handled correctly by the Error Reporting configuration.

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Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:2/16/2006
Keywords:kbHOWTOmaster KB309267 kbAudITPro
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