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Disabling Error Reporting in Windows XP
~~Vic Ferri, WinTips and Tricks

By default, this is displayed whenever there is an abnormal program or system error. In the event of a system crash resulting in a blue screen, the dialog box will greet you after you restart your PC.

If you choose to send a report of the problem to Microsoft, you are granting Microsoft permission to track and address your operating system and collect data about the program and error. The main concern with this feature is that private information may be inadvertently collected and sent. For example, if during the time of the crash, you were writing an email or working on a document, it is possible that the memory snapshot may contain data, such as your name, from that email or document. You may also be making known your IP address, sites you most recently visited, registry settings, and more.

What is or is not sent all depends on the type of the error. For more info on data collected (according to Microsoft), see here: http://oca.microsoft.com/en/dcp20.asp

If this is a concern to you or if you find such pop up dialog boxes objectionable or annoying, you can either disable error reporting completely or customize it to your preference.

Disabling

Right click the My Computer icon and go to Properties. Click the Advanced tab and then click the Error Reporting tab at the bottom. This will display this box:

Here you can set your choices. To totally disable, simply check Disable Error Reporting and uncheck Notify me of Critical Errors. Or if you prefer, you can disable error reporting but still be alerted whenever an error occurs.

And that's it - reboot and gone is another XP annoyance.

Customizing

As you can see, there are also other options you can choose. If you wish, you can enable error reporting on only the programs you choose. Lets assume you only wish to disable Windows System errors and only be notified of errors on programs you specify. To do so, check Enable Error Reporting, uncheck "Windows Operating System" and click Choose Program.

Then deselect "All Programs" so that only "All Programs in this list" is selected. By default, you will see "Programs from Microsoft" and "Windows Components" in the list. Uncheck them and then click Add to browse for the executables (exe files) of the programs you wish to add.

In this example, error reporting is set to only report errors with Microsoft Word:

To totally disable error reporting, you should also disable Error Reporting in Services.

• Go to Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Services
• Select Error Reporting, right click it, go to Properties and first click
• Stop (if the status shows Started) and then choose Disabled for Startup Type.

Registry Settings

If you totally disabled error reporting and are still getting error alerts, go to this key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PCHealth\ErrorReporting

and make sure all these values are set to 0, as shown here:

"AllOrNone"=dword:00000000
"IncludeMicrosoftApps"=dword:00000000
"IncludeWindowsApps"=dword:00000000
"IncludeKernelFaults"=dword:00000000
"DoReport"=dword:00000000
"ShowUI"=dword:00000000

NOTE: Do not confuse Windows Error Reporting with Internet Explorer script errors. To disable those errors which usually ask you if you wish to debug the error, open Internet Explorer, click Tools>Internet Options>Advanced tab and place a checkmark next to "Disable Script Debugging" and make sure there is no checkmark next to "Display a Notification about every script error".

Want to disable error reporting in Microsoft Office too?  Read this.

Vic Ferri owns the very popular WinTips and Tricks and Registry Answers.  Subscribe to either and receive free Windows and Registry Tips.  He is also in charge of the Printing Tips  pages at Linda's Computer Stop.  Vic has also created a program which allows you to Lock & Hide desktop folders in Windows 9X/ME.  Read more and get the free demo here.  And, he now offers a service to convert PowerPoint presentations to .exe files which can be viewed on computers which do not have PowerPoint installed.