Quickstart

Get up and running with CrashCatch Analyze in under five minutes.

Requirements

  • Windows 10 or Windows 11 (x64)
  • Internet connection required for Explain Mode all other features work offline

Installation

1
Download the installer Go to the CrashCatch Analyzer releases page on GitHub and download CrashCatch Analyze_0.3.0-beta_x64-setup.exe.
2
Run the installer Double-click the downloaded .exe. Because the beta installer is currently unsigned, Windows SmartScreen may show a warning.
3
Bypass SmartScreen If you see "Windows protected your PC", click More info, then Run anyway. This warning appears for all unsigned Windows installers it is expected during the beta.
4
Complete the installer Follow the on-screen steps. CrashCatch Analyze installs for the current user only no administrator rights required.
5
Launch the app Open CrashCatch Analyze from the Start menu or desktop shortcut. A welcome screen will appear on first launch.

Opening your first crash dump

You need a Windows minidump file (.dmp) to analyze. If you don't have one yet, you can generate one from any crashing Windows application they are typically written to %LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps\ or your application's own crash output folder.

There are three ways to open a dump:

  • Drag and drop drag a .dmp file directly onto the CrashCatch window
  • File menu go to File > Open .dmp
  • Keyboard shortcut press Ctrl+O

What happens next

As soon as a file is loaded, CrashCatch will:

  • Parse the minidump and extract exception, thread, module, and register data
  • Run the Intel Engine a heuristics pass that classifies the crash type, produces a confidence score, and flags key indicators
  • Display results across the tabs at the top of the window

The Stack Trace tab opens by default, showing the symbolicated call stack of the crashing thread. See the Interface Guide for a full breakdown of every tab.

If your stack frames show as raw addresses with no function names, you need to configure symbol paths so CrashCatch can resolve symbols from your PDB files. Symbol path configuration is coming in a future release.