Force a Windows Crash Dump with Keyboard Shortcut

Windows includes a built-in mechanism that allows administrators and developers to manually trigger a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) to capture a memory crash dump for troubleshooting unresponsive or frozen systems. This feature is enabled by adding the CrashOnCtrlScroll value to the Windows Registry, which activates a dedicated keyboard shortcut sequence using the right Control key and the Scroll Lock key.

The Registry Value

To enable manual crash dumps, you must create a REG_DWORD value named CrashOnCtrlScroll and set its value data to 1.

How to Configure the Registry

  1. Press Windows Key + R, type regedit, and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to the key corresponding to your keyboard type:
    • For USB Keyboards: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\kbdhid\Parameters
    • For PS/2 Keyboards: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters
    • For Hyper-V Virtual Machines: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\hyperkbd\Parameters
  3. If the Parameters subkey does not exist under the service, right-click the service folder, select New > Key, and name it Parameters.
  4. Right-click the Parameters key, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it CrashOnCtrlScroll.
  5. Double-click CrashOnCtrlScroll, set its Value data to 1, and click OK.
  6. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

The Keyboard Sequence to Trigger the Crash

Once the system has rebooted with the registry setting enabled, perform the following sequence to force the crash:

  1. Press and hold the Right CTRL key (the left CTRL key will not work).
  2. While holding the Right CTRL key, press the SCROLL LOCK key twice in rapid succession.

Result

The operating system will immediately generate a stop error with the bug check code 0x000000E2 (MANUALLY_INITIATED_CRASH) and save a memory dump file (typically located at %SystemRoot%\MEMORY.DMP) according to your system’s startup and recovery settings.