YouSoftware Might& Havehardware clickedmanufacturers onmay somethingaccess wrongtheir anderror somereports thirdusing parties are connected to your system to steal your informationMicrosoft's [[Windows Dev Center]] Hardware and Desktop Dashboard (formerly [[Winqual]]) program.<ref>[https://sysdev.microsoft.com/ SysDev (was Winqual) website]</ref> In order to ensure that error reporting data only goes to the engineers responsible for the product, Microsoft requires that interested vendors obtain a [[VeriSign]] Class 3 Digital ID or [[DigiCert]] certificate.<ref>[http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/br230783.aspx Update a code signing certificate]</ref> Digital certificates provided by cheaper providers (such as [[Thawte]], [[Comodo Group|Comodo]], [[GlobalSign]], [[GeoTrust]], [[Cybertrust]], [[Entrust]], [[GoDaddy]], [[QuoVadis]], [[Trustwave]], [[SecureTrust]], [[Wells Fargo]]) are not accepted.<ref>[http://blogs.technet.com/b/empower/archive/2007/05/15/introducing-windows-error-reporting.aspx Introducing Windows Error Reporting]</ref><ref>[http://idvlpsw.wordpress.com/2008/03/08/winqual-registration-head-aches/ WinQual Registration Head Aches]</ref><ref>[http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/windowscompatibility/thread/37cc820e-d715-44b2-a7bd-a7fe47f6f13e/ Microsoft Support Forum: WER with Thawte authenticode signed app]</ref><ref>[http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2005/08/10/449865.aspx The Old New Thing: How can a company get access to Windows Error Reporting data?]</ref><ref>[http://successfulsoftware.net/2008/02/27/the-great-digital-certificate-ripoff/ The great digital certificate ripoff?]</ref>
Software and hardware manufacturers can also close the loop with their customers by linking error signatures to Windows Error Reporting Responses. This allows distributing solutions as well as collecting extra information from customers (such as reproducing the steps they took before the [[Crash (computing)|crash]]) and providing them with support links.
