Who Crashed: Inspects and Determines Crash Causes

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 19 Dec 2008

When it comes to computers, especially PCs, the simple truth of the matter is that from time to time they will crash (unexpectedly and for no apparent reason). You will find that even your above average IT skills will not be enough to pinpoint the exact cause of the crash – time to send in Who Crashed.

“Whenever a computer running Windows suddenly reboots without displaying any notice or blue screen of death, the first thing that is often though about is a hardware failure. In reality, most crashes are caused by malfunctioning device drivers and kernel modules. In case of a kernel error, most computers running Windows do not show a blue screen unless they are configured to do so. Instead these systems suddenly reboot without any notice,” says Resplendence Software who developed this application.

With a simple click of a button you can determine which driver has been acting up and causing your computer to crash. The way it works is by analyzing post-mortem crashdump data and presenting you with the results in an easy to understand manner.

Two things must be mentioned. The first is that Who Crashed requires WindDbg (Windows Debugging Package) in order to run properly. If this is not already installed on your system, Who Crashed will launch an automatic download and installation. The second thing that has to be said about Who Crashed is the fact that it cannot boast about a 100% accuracy rate – if kernel modules would not have all been stored in the same place and would not be able to corrupt one another, then Who Crashed would be able to say without a doubt which driver provoked the crash. It would also help if drivers would not affect one another in terms of functionality. Still, this is not to say that Who Crashed is not a properly good tool to use when analyzing why your computer crashed.

If you would like to get Who Crashed, a download location is available here.


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