How generate a full user-mode dump file in Windows 2008

Dr. Watson is not included in Windows 2008. Dr. Watson was the default debugger in older Windows operating systems. The replacement for Dr. Watson is Problem Reports and Solutions.

One alternative is Debugging Tools for Windows, it has support for Windows x86 and x64 versions (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/default.mspx)

The steps to registry the tool in Windows x86 are:

1) Install the Debugging Tools for Windows your machine, usually is installed in C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows, and you can select other location such as C:\debuggers
2) Open the Registry Editor, from run program using regedit command
3) Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug
4) On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click String Value.
5) Type Debugger, and then press ENTER.
6) Right-click Debugger, and then click Modify.
7) In the Edit String Value dialog box, type C:\debuggers\ntsd -p %ld -c ".dump /f /u c:\tmp\mydump.dmp;q", and then click OK.
8 ) On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click String Value.
9) Type Auto, and then press ENTER.
10) Right-click Auto, and then click Modify.
11) In the Edit String Value dialog box, type 1, and then click OK.
12) Exit Registry Editor.

The steps to registry the tool in Windows x64 are:

1) Install the Debugging Tools for Windows your machine, usually is installed in C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows, and you can select other location such as C:\debuggers
2) Open the Registry Editor, from run program using regedit command
3) Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug
4) On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click String Value.
5) Type Debugger, and then press ENTER.
6) Right-click Debugger, and then click Modify.
7) In the Edit String Value dialog box, type C:\debuggers\ntsd -p %ld -c ".dump /f /u c:\tmp\mydump.dmp;q", and then click OK.
8 ) On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click String Value.
9) Type Auto, and then press ENTER.
10) Right-click Auto, and then click Modify.
11) In the Edit String Value dialog box, type 1, and then click OK.
12) Exit Registry Editor.

How to re-enable hibernation on a computer that is running Windows 2008 or Vista

The Hibernation option is enabled by default the Hiberfil.sys hidden system file is located in the root folder of the drive where the operating system is installed.

It can be re-enabled using following steps:

1) Run as Administrator the command line program, from start search box menu type cmd and in result right click in Command Promt and click Run as Administrator
2) Type powercfg /hibernate on
3) Press Enter
4) The Hibernation will be on

Also you can review other details in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920730/

How to disable hibernation on a computer that is running Windows 2008 or Vista

The Hibernation option is enabled by default the Hiberfil.sys hidden system file is located in the root folder of the drive where the operating system is installed.

It can be disabled using following steps:

1) Run as Administrator the command line program, from start search box menu type cmd and in result right click in Command Promt and click Run as Administrator
2) Type powercfg /hibernate off
3) Press Enter
4) The Hibernation will be off

Also you can review other details in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920730/