[Tip] Create Live Kernel Memory Dump File Using Task Manager in Windows 11

In this article, we’ll discuss how to create live kernel memory dump (LKD) collection file using the Task Manager tool in Windows 11 operating system. Live kernel memory dump data will help you in troubleshooting performance related issues or applications crashing issues while the operating system continues to work.

What is Live Kernel Memory Dump (LKD) in Windows 11?

Live Kernel Memory Dump is a new feature introduced in newer versions of Windows 11 (Moment 3 Update or later). In older versions of Windows operating system, users could create a memory dump file of any application process using Task Manager tool to investigate and troubleshoot issues encountered with that particular app.

Now Windows 11 allows users to create a full live kernel memory dump collection which contains a snapshot of kernel memory as well as other types of memory. The snapshot is saved to a dump file on hard disk.

Users can create a live kernel memory dump in 2 forms: Full live kernel memory dump and Kernel stacks memory dump. The full live kernel memory dump contains active kernel memory along with hypervisor memory and user-mode memory. Users can select whether they want to capture hypervisor and user pages as part of full live kernel dump or not. On the other hand, the kernel stacks memory dump is a smaller dump file containing only kernel processor states and all kernel thread stacks.

The advantage of live kernel memory dump feature is that it does not cause a system crash and can create the dump file while the operating system continues running.

The LKD file will help programmers in analyzing the system state and diagnosing problems present in apps or operating system to fix bugs and issues.

How to Create Live Kernel Memory Dump (LKD) in Windows 11?

If you want to create a live kernel memory dump file to troubleshoot an issue or to provide the dump file to administrator or developers, following steps will help you:

1. First of all, make sure you are using Windows 11 version 22621 or higher in your computer system. You can check the Windows version using Winver dialog box or other methods given in this article.

2. Now open Task Manager using taskmgr command or using Ctrl+Shift+Esc hotkey or any other method given here.

3. Scroll down and find the System process given on Processes tab. You can also go to Details tab and find the System process.

4. Right-click on System process and you’ll see a new option “Create live kernel memory dump file“. Select the option and then select any of following available options:

• Full live kernel memory dump
• Kernel stacks memory dump
• Change memory dump settings

The first 2 options will allow you to generate kernel memory dump files as mentioned above. The 3rd option can be used to customize and change live kernel memory dump file settings.

Where does Task Manager Store Live Kernel Memory Dump File in Windows 11?

Once you generate the live kernel memory dump file using Task Manager, Windows 11 stores the file in following folder:

Here %LocalAppData% is a system folder located at C:\Users\Your_User_Name\AppData\Local\ location.

You can access the folder using File Explorer or Run dialog box.

Customize Live Kernel Memory Dump Settings and Options Using Task Manager

Windows 11 also allows users to control the functionality of creating LKD files. You can click on Settings button in Task Manager and you’ll get following options to customize live kernel memory dump files:

• Abort if insufficient memory
• Capture hypervisor pages
• Include nonessential pages
• Capture user pages

First option “Abort if insufficient memory” is enabled by default to prevent the system from crashing if memory is insufficient during dump file creation.

“Capture hypervisor pages” and “Include nonessential pages” options can be enabled if you also want to capture memory regions used by hypervisor for Hyper-V and virtual machines purposes.

“Capture user pages” option can be enabled to capture user-mode memory regions as well.

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