Block Microsoft’s “Encountered A Problem” Pop-Up

BLOCK MICROSOFT’S “ENCOUNTERED A PROBLEM” POP-UP 

Occasionally, when my computer malfunctions, a message pops up that says one of my programs has “encountered a problem” and asks to send Microsoft a report. I understand that the information helps Microsoft solve software bugs on future products and that I am not supposed to be running a security risk, but frankly I’m skeptical, so I usually click on the Don’t Send button. Am I not being a good citizen? What’s the scoop on this?

I think the risk is small, but that doesn’t mean there’s no risk. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Computer Incident Advisory Capability says that when your computer sends a “memory dump” to Microsoft, it sometimes could contain data from your hard disk.

If you wish to stop being bothered by those error pop-ups, you can block them by opening your Control Panel (Start, Settings, Control Panel) and clicking on System, Advanced, Error Reporting (see screenshot below).

As you see, you can either disable the pop-up entirely by checking Disable error reporting, or, if you want to send reports, you can choose whether you want them limited to the operating system, programs or both. And you can even select which programs you want monitored.