Power BI SQLDUMPER.EXE Command Prompt Popup: The Real Fix (2026)
A black CMD window flashing during Power BI use is SQLDUMPER.EXE. There are two separate active causes in 2026 — one Microsoft already patched, one they haven’t. Here’s how to tell which one you have, and the policy fix that actually works.
The Direct Answer
The black command prompt window is SQLDUMPER.EXE, triggered by msmdsrv.exe (the Analysis Services engine behind every Power BI data model) whenever it hits an internal exception and captures a crash dump. In 2026 there are two distinct active causes: a Power BI Report Server bug in the January 2026 build that Microsoft officially patched in the February 25, 2026 release, and a separate Power BI Desktop recurrence reported around March 2026 alongside the Copilot Premium rollout, which has no official patch yet. The fix that works for both: enable the Group Policy “Turn off Windows Error Reporting”, or set CreateAndSendCrashReports to 0 directly in the Analysis Services config.
Which Situation Matches Yours?
The fix path is different depending on which product and version you’re running.
Your specific fix path will appear here once you select a situation above.
Power BI SQLDUMPER.EXE: What’s Actually Happening With msmdsrv.exe
Every Power BI data model, whether in Desktop or the Service, runs on top of SQL Server Analysis Services — the process is msmdsrv.exe. When that engine hits an internal exception, it automatically launches SQLDUMPER.EXE to capture a memory dump for diagnostics. That’s the brief black command prompt window you’re seeing.
The window itself isn’t malware and isn’t inherently dangerous. But a healthy Power BI session shouldn’t be generating exceptions constantly — if you’re seeing this regularly, it’s a real signal that something underneath is unstable, not just cosmetic noise to ignore.
Two Separate Active Causes in 2026 — Confirm Which One You Have
These are genuinely different bugs with different fix status. Don’t apply the Report Server fix to a Desktop problem or vice versa — check your product and version first.
What happened
Microsoft’s own change log confirms a known issue in this specific build causing excessive crash dumps to be written to the report server’s log file directory. In at least one documented production case, a two-node scale-out deployment filled its log drive because dump files were being generated continuously.
- Update to the February 25, 2026 release (build 1.25.9552.1669) — Microsoft’s official change log explicitly lists this fix as included.
- If you can’t update immediately, the documented interim workaround is editing the Analysis Services config directly: locate
msmdsrv.ini(commonly under...\PBIRS\LogFiles\ASEngine\) and set<CreateAndSendCrashReports>0</CreateAndSendCrashReports>in the Exception section. - Back up your
rsreportserver.configfile and take a full database backup before applying the update, standard practice for any Report Server version change.
What’s happening
A separate recurrence, reported by multiple users starting around March 2026, with reports doubling their load time or hanging entirely on a white screen before the crash window appears. Several affected users specifically flagged the timing lining up with Copilot Premium becoming available. This is notably harder to work around than the Report Server bug — reverting to an earlier Desktop build has not resolved it for people who’ve tried it, which suggests it isn’t a simple version regression.
- Enable the Group Policy “Turn off Windows Error Reporting.” Go to Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Windows Error Reporting, and set it to Enabled. Yes, the naming is backwards — enabling this policy is what disables the reporting behavior that triggers SQLDUMPER.EXE.
- If you don’t have Group Policy access (common on managed corporate machines without admin rights), ask your IT admin to apply it at the organizational unit level rather than trying to work around it locally.
- As a secondary lever, disable the “On-object interaction” preview feature in Power BI Desktop options — multiple users report this reduces frequency, since it cuts down on semantic model changes that seem to trigger the exception.
- Avoid leaving a report open and idle for extended periods before publishing — this specific trigger pattern has reappeared across multiple versions of this bug going back to 2019.
This Has Happened Before — A Six-Year Pattern
If this is your first time hitting it, it’s worth knowing this isn’t a new or isolated bug — the same underlying crash-dump behavior has resurfaced repeatedly since at least 2019, each time with a different specific trigger.
⚠️ Reinstalling Power BI is not a reliable fix here. Multiple users in the March 2026 thread confirmed the issue persists even after reverting to earlier Desktop versions. If your specific trigger is Group Policy / Windows Error Reporting related rather than a version-specific bug, no amount of reinstalling addresses the actual cause.
Quick Reference Table
| Situation | Status | First Thing to Do |
|---|---|---|
| Report Server, Jan 2026 build | Patched | Update to Feb 25, 2026 release |
| Report Server, can’t update yet | Workaround available | Set CreateAndSendCrashReports to 0 in msmdsrv.ini |
| Desktop, since ~March 2026 | Open, no patch | Enable “Turn off Windows Error Reporting” policy |
| Desktop, long-standing/intermittent | Recurring pattern | Same Group Policy fix, plus disable On-object interaction |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does a black command prompt window flash when using Power BI?
Is the Power BI SQLDUMPER.EXE issue fixed?
What Group Policy setting stops the SQLDUMPER.EXE window from appearing?
How do I disable crash dumps in Analysis Services directly instead of using Group Policy?
Is this a new problem with Power BI?
How This Guide Was Built
The Report Server fix is sourced directly from Microsoft’s official Power BI Report Server change log and cross-referenced against a documented production incident (dbanuggets.com, March 2026) that applied the manual workaround before the official patch shipped. The Desktop-side timeline and workarounds are drawn from dated, ongoing threads on the Microsoft Fabric Community forum, including direct user reports of version-revert attempts failing to resolve it. The Group Policy mechanism is confirmed against Microsoft’s own documentation for Windows Error Reporting and SQL Server Analysis Services crash-report configuration.
Written and verified by A.J., Data Engineering Researcher · Ultimate Info Guide
