Err, doesn't it just mean InDesign crashed?

I'm not a Windows developer, but I thought that when this error happened, a minidump was generated and you had to look at the minidump for details on the error:

On MacOS X, after InDesign crashes, the Adobe Crashreporter pops up and it has a Crash Data button you can press to see the stack trace, the set of functions that were running when the crash ocurred. Is there not a Windows analog?

@John > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/125749

While in theory it's possible that this is a programming error in ID, in my experience it usually is actually a Windows problem or a newly corrupt file in the ID installation. Doing a Windows restore is pretty fast and painless, if it works, and the next step is generally to try a reinstall of ID (or load yoru backup image if you have one).

John Hawkinson wrote:

 

The detective in me very much resists the idea of trying solutions that eliminate the evidence of the problem, but it's probably true that doing a system restore is easiest.

 

Well, I like to solve problems, too, like why my laptop won't allow me to enter the Fonts folder without truning off all the fonts used for dialogs, but after three or four days of not being able to track it down I get pragmatic, say I have real work that needs to be done, and do a restore to a known working condition.

Windows event viewer is usaully pretty useless to the non-geek. I've never seen a mini-dump I could read or an event viewer description that provided more than a listing of the faulting module, if that, in English.  I suspect that downloading the debugging tools might be useful for someone with training in how to use them, but most of us here don't fall into that category.

And if you do identify that there is a corrupt file, what's the solution? You replace the file. System Restore replaces the current set of critical Windows System files and Registry with a stored set from a previous time. Seems like its a no harm, no foul first step for the non-geek. If it doesn't work, odds are good the problem is in the ID install, and I don't know a way to extract a single file from the ID installer, do you?

I've heard that propaganda before. Back when I used to work on Mac's they'd crash at least once a day, and the font system would self-destruct once a month. I've apparently been using the laptop in this condition for more than two years (my oldest drive backup image demonstrates the same issue) without need to install a font, and as long as I don't try to do that in the system folder the thing will run along merrily for weeks at a time without a hitch -- then I need to shut down to hit the road.