Disable Windows Debgug/ Close Program pop-up

Hi,

I am automating a program by calling Windows API functions and subs. From time to time, the program that is being automated crashes and the '... has stopped working' dialog box appears with two options:

a) Check online for a solution and close the program
b) Close the program

I already have another way to monitor the program to make sure that it is not hanged, but this dialog box that handles unhandled executions is a nuisance. I found a way to disable this (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb513638.aspx)

I think the code would probably use SetUnhandledExceptionFilter and UnhandledExceptionFilter but not sure how to implement it any further. Any thoughts?

Declare PtrSafe Function UnhandledExceptionFilter Lib "kernel32" Alias "UnhandledExceptionFilter" (ExceptionInfo As EXCEPTION_POINTERS) As Long
Declare PtrSafe Function SetUnhandledExceptionFilter Lib "kernel32" Alias "SetUnhandledExceptionFilter" (ByVal lpTopLevelExceptionFilter As LongPtr) As LongPtr

Thanks.

abousetta

Hello Ahmed,

The error you are receiving could be a COM error. Have you identified what causes the error? Do you know the error number?

Hi Leith,

Just to clarify, I'm only using Excel to execute API commands to send key strokes to the EndNote program. During the looping, I am receive different error messages based on the OS that the program is running on and particular file that is being updated. One of the computers shows this information:

  Problem Event Name:	APPCRASH
  Application Name:	EndNote.EXE
  Fault Module Name:	EndNote.EXE
  Exception Code:	c0000005
  Exception Offset:	00189d92
  OS Version:	6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.4

At other times/ other OS, I receive a Msgbox stating that the program is terminating in an abnormal manner and it has C++ in the window caption. Another time (but I could not replicate it right now to get the error message), there was a generic error that when I looked it up said that the causes could be anything from a corrupt dll to memory issues to hardware problems.

In all cases, I don't particularly care about the error message, all I want to do is close the program without displaying the message box. I already have a second application that is monitoring the EndNote program and restarting it if it hangs. The dialog boxes though remain and so I have to manually remove them. I'm trying to circumvent this by not showing them in the first place.

Any thoughts?

abousetta

Hello ahmed,

The dialogs are being generated most likely by ENDNOTE itself. It is possible to write an API routine to look for dialog boxes. Answering them automatically can be difficult. Non system dialogs may not conform to Microsoft standards making the process of clicking the proper button difficult. I will have to review my library for dialog API routines. I remember delving into this a few years ago out of curiosity or perhaps insanity, not sure which was the motivator.

Hi Leith,

Yes, I agree that the errors seem to generated by EndNote (or at least as a result of EndNote crashing). I just want to Windows to stop the program instead of asking me what to do. I did find this for turning error reporting off, but I would like it to be turned off again (toggle):

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting]
"ForceQueue"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\Consent]
"DefaultConsent"=dword:00000001

I've tried going through the routine of clicking on the 'Close Program' button, but each Windows OS seems to have a different set of options and I just need it to not to appear to begin with.

Thanks.

abousetta

Hi,

I've also found this on the MSDN website to allow programs to be selectively added or removed from the Excluded Applications List:

HRESULT WINAPI WerAddExcludedApplication(PCWSTR 
  _In_  BOOL bAllUsers
);


HRESULT WINAPI WerRemoveExcludedApplication(
  _In_  PCWSTR pwzExeName,
  _In_  BOOL bAllUsers
);

I'm still trying to find how to call these from vba instead of C++.

abousetta