What's New in WER

This page summarizes the new features of Windows Error Reporting (WER) for each release.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

The following list summarizes the new WER features for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Adds the ability to raise an exception that bypasses all exception handlers thus terminating the application immediately and invoking Windows Error Reporting. For details, see the RaiseFailFastException function.
Adds the ability to register an out-of-process exception handler that WER calls when a crash occurs to collect the event name, reporting parameters, and debug launching options. For details, see the WerRegisterRuntimeExceptionModule function.

Functions that were added:

Structures that were added:

The following list summarizes the new features of WER for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1).

WER can be configured so that full user-mode dumps are collected and stored locally after a user-mode application crashes (applications that do their own custom crash reporting, including .NET applications are not supported). For more information, see Collecting User-Mode Dumps.

The following list summarizes the new features of Windows Error Reporting (WER) for Windows Vista:

WER has been extended beyond monitoring crashes and unresponsive processes. WER includes support for many new types of non-critical events, such as performance issues. This enables developers to learn more about the experiences their customers have with the applications they have developed.
New functions give developers the flexibility in creating, customizing, and submitting problem reports. For more information, see WER Functions.
The improved Windows Quality Online Services provides developers with access to the problem information that customers are submitting for their applications, and a mechanism to deliver solutions to these customers.
The functions introduced by Application Recovery and Restart and Restart Manager enable applications to automatically recover information and restart in the event of a critical failure. Developers can use these features in their applications to significantly improve their user experience.
Problem Reports and Solutions on Windows Vista or the Action Center on Windows 7 is the central location for users to interact with WER. Users can check for new solutions, manage their reporting history, view the details of a problem report, and manage reporting settings including enabling WER to check for solutions automatically without interrupting the user.