Windows 7 Windows Error Reporting Infrastructure

The Windows Error Reporting (WER) infrastructure is one of the components of Windows that has evolved with the introduction of Windows 7. Designed as a set of event-based feedback technologies, WER can record and subsequently relay to Microsoft information about various software and hardware problems detected by Windows. The software giant will receive data on crash, hang, and kernel fault errors by default, provided that the end users accept to share the info with the company, but at the same time, WER goes much further via the application programming interface (API) delivered by Microsoft.

The Redmond company enumerated the "new WER features for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. [WER] adds the ability to raise an exception that bypasses all exception handlers thus terminating the application immediately and invoking Windows Error Reporting (the RaiseFailFastException function). Adds the ability to register an exception handler that WER calls when a crash occurs to collect the event name, reporting parameters, and debug launching options (the WerRegisterRuntimeExceptionModule function)."

According to Riyaz Pishori, program manager, Windows 7 applications and gadgets team, WER in Windows 7 is capable of capturing application failures, data which can highlight error trends and ultimately help developers pinpoint the root of the problems. Microsoft revealed the "functions that were added to [WER in Windows 7]: OutOfProcessExceptionEventCallback; OutOfProcessExceptionEventSignatureCallback; OutOfProcessExceptionEventDebuggerLaunchCallback; RaiseFailFastException; WerRegisterRuntimeExceptionModule; WerUnregisterRuntimeExceptionModule and the structures that were added: WER_RUNTIME_EXCEPTION_INFORMATION."

WER is already hard at work in Windows 7, with the public Beta of the operating system having been available for download since January 10, 2009. But the feedback infrastructure will continue to offer information to Microsoft well after the RTM stage of the platform.

"Related to failure recovery, Applications can also register with WER for restart on application of a Windows patch that terminates the application and on application of an update that reboots the computer, as well as failure caused due to an application crash or hang or not responding state. Applications can optionally register for recovery of lost data, can develop their own mechanism for recovery," Pishori stated.