I keep getting and seeing this message
Failed to write core dump. Minidumps are not enabled by default on client versions of Windows
You will need the following JVM option:
-XX:+CreateMinidumpOnCrash
Then the minidump will be as large as the memory used by your JVM.
To interpret the minidump you can install the free Visual Studio C++ Express edition for your platform: http://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/products/visual-studio-express-vs.aspx
You will also need the symbols for the DLLs that you are interested in. There is some information on using the Microsoft Symbol server here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311503
You would also need the symbol files for the JVM.