Debugging and Problem Analysis

Crash and Hang Problem Analysis Service

You’re being plagued by a system crash or a hang.   You’ve tried to analyze it, but you can’t seem to determine the root cause.

You might be on a product QA team working through product issues, a customer support team receiving incident reports from the field, or an IT support organization with persistent problem reports from users.  Regardless of your mission, determining the root cause (or even likely indicators of cause) for a system crash or hang can be trying and time consuming at best.  Not only do you need in-depth knowledge of Windows systems internals and exceptional problem analysis skills, you need experience debugging lots and lots of similar Windows system problems.

This is where OSR’s Problem Analysis service can help.  One of our experts, who works on analyzing tough Windows systems-level problems every  day, is available to review your crash or hang and provide you a definitive, written, analysis of the problem as well as guidance on further steps you can take to mitigate the problem.  And we can do this for you within just a few days of receipt of your problem, and at a very reasonable fixed price.

We can provide this service because our analysts’ problem analysis skills and knowledge of Windows internals (gained from years of working with Windows at the source code level) are second to none. And, just like everything done by OSR, we know you’ll be pleased by  the service we provide.

The Service

For a fixed price, one of our experts will analyze a single problem and prepare you an informal, brief Problem Analysis Report describing the observed problem and  any root cause/causes that can be identified.  The report also includes a step-by-step description of the analysis, as well as recommendations for further actions.

See an example of an actual Problem Analysis Report (PDF)

As part of the service, you may submit up to 3 system crash dumps that illustrate the problem.  Within 2 business days, we’ll provide you with an initial triage report.  Within 5 business days of your receiving that triage report, you will receive the completed Problem Analysis Report.  After you’ve received the report our experts will be available for follow-up to clarify the report or answer related questions.

The Cost

The cost of our Crash and Hang Problem Analysis Service is $2,499 per incident submitted.

The Fine Print

The following details also apply to this Problem Analysis Service:

• Except in unusual circumstances (staff sickness, holiday), turnaround time to initial triage of a crash or hang will be 2 business days, with the Problem Analysis Report available in 5 additional business days.
• On request, OSR will review and execute non-disclosure agreements with the client.
• Client must provide access via email.to a knowledgeable engineer during the period from problem submission to Problem Analysis Report completion, to provide timely answers to questions about configurations and the circumstances of the problem.
• Please provide any symbols that might be available for running applications and (especially) kernel-mode modules such as drivers.
• Please do not provide source code or documentation of any solution (driver, application, or other) that you may suspect is the cause of the issue. If our analysts have questions, we’ll ask during the analysis period.
• Crash dumps are preferred (no mini-dumps; please take a crash if a hang), but alternatively, OSR will accept a VMware (only) virtual machine  that crashes or hangs the system by some simple set of clearly documented steps.
• Other limitations apply.  Please contact OSR for complete details.

Ready To Try It?

If you have additional questions, or you’re ready to get us started analyzing your problem, contact us at sales at osr.com