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Creating a full user mode spooler dump with the hang or crash switch

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First we have to install “Debugging Tools for Windows” on the affected server or pc. The appropriate version can be downloaded from the link below.

Debugging Tools for Windows – Overview

After the installation we will use adplus.vbs to generate a spooler dump.

Adplus
Adplus is a script which triggers cdb debugger in “Debugging Tools for Windows” to generate a dump.

Additional information can be found under:
How to use ADPlus to troubleshoot “hangs” and “crashes”

Steps to create a full user mode dump:
Step 1 >> Create a folder named “temp” under c:\
Step 2 >> Open command prompt and type the following commands
Step 3 >> cd “C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows (x64)” , (If you are using an x86 oprating system navigate to >> cd “C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows”)
Step 4 >> cscript /h:wscript (to change the script engine)
Step 5 >> adplus.vbs -crash -quiet -pn spoolsv.exe -o c:\temp
             or adplus.vbs -hang -quiet -pn spoolsv.exe -o c:\temp

The dump file will be saved under the c:\temp folder.

Important notes regarding the CRASH and HANG switch:
After attaching the debugger to the spooler process with the CRASH switch as dscribed in Step 5, the debugger will wait till the spooler service crashes. The user has to be logged on to the affected server or pc because the debugger runs under the users security context. If you log off the debugger will be terminated and no dump can be generated.

The HANG switch does not wait till the spooler hangs. It immediately creates a full user mode spooler dump. Creating a dump with the HANG switch makes sense if the problem is present right now and if the spooler service hangs.