A full user-mode dump is the basic user-mode dump file.

This dump file includes the entire memory space of a process, the program's executable image itself, the handle table, and other information that will be useful to the debugger.

It is possible to "shrink" a full user-mode dump file into a minidump. Simply load the dump file into the debugger and then use the .dump (Create Dump File) command to save a new dump file in minidump format.

Note  Despite their names, the largest "minidump" file actually contains more information than the full user-mode dump. For example, .dump /mf or .dump /ma will create a larger and more complete file than .dump /f.

In user mode, .dump /m[MiniOptions] is the best choice. The dump files created with this switch can vary in size from very small to very large. By specifying the proper MiniOptions you can control exactly what information is included.