Benefits and Purposes of Windows Error Reporting
The Windows Error Reporting feature in Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 1 (SP1) provides a service that allows Microsoft to track and address errors relating to the operating system, Windows components, and applications. This service, called the Error Reporting service, gives users the opportunity to send data about errors to Microsoft and to receive information about them. Microsoft developers can use the Error Reporting service as a problem-solving tool to address customer problems in a timely manner and to improve the quality of Microsoft products.
When users send information to Microsoft, in some cases Microsoft may provide information to users, such as a way to work around a problem or a link to a Web site for updated drivers, patches, or Microsoft Knowledge Base articles.
Overview: Using Windows Error Reporting in a Managed Environment
In Windows XP with SP1, error reporting is enabled by default and users can choose to report errors to Microsoft. When an error occurs, a dialog box is displayed allowing the user to report the problem. When a user chooses to report the problem, technical information about the problem is collected and then sent to Microsoft over the Internet. No information is sent unless the user confirms that the error report is to be sent to Microsoft. A user who is logged on as an administrator can choose to report system and application errors. A user who is not logged on as an administrator can choose to report application errors.
Users with administrative credentials can configure or disable error reporting through Control Panel\System\Advanced. They can configure error reporting to send specified information such as system errors (Stop errors) only, or errors for Windows components, such as Windows Explorer or Microsoft Internet Explorer. Users can also send information for applications, such as Microsoft Word.
Since error reporting is a valuable service, we recommend that IT administrators not disable it, but that they control what information is reported and where it is sent. For an organization where privacy is a concern, we recommend that the IT department review and filter error reports before they are sent to Microsoft. Though it is not recommended, you can also completely disable error reporting on client computers by using Group Policy.
The best method to use to prevent the automatic flow of error reporting information to and from the Internet is to redirect error reports to a server on your intranet by using Group Policy and to set up Corporate Error Reporting (CER).
If you qualify for Corporate Error Reporting as a Software Assurance benefit, you can use the Corporate Error Reporting tool to manage error reports that have been redirected to a network server. You use the tool to review the redirected error reports and then filter the reports that are sent to Microsoft based on your policies and the data contained within the error report. The tool is also useful for determining the types of problems users are experiencing most often.
If you have not yet deployed Windows XP with SP1, you can use unattended installation files to configure error reporting in the same way as in Group Policy. If it is necessary in your organization to completely disable Windows Error Reporting, you can do so with the unattended installation file or with Group Policy. For more information about these methods, see "Controlling Error Reporting to Prevent the Flow of Information to and from the Internet," later in this section.
