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Fix Dr
Watson
Dr. Watson is a Microsoft Windows tool used for debugging; a
program used to detect and assist in reducing the number of
defects with an application or hardware component. The name
Dr. Watson comes from the story book character associated
with the Sherlock Holmes fictional detective series. Dr.
Watson, the software program, collects data about your
system when an error occurs and generates a report. Like
other error reports, you can send a Dr. Watson report log to
a Microsoft technician or a technical support worker to
diagnose the problem for further analysis.
The first iteration of the tool is reported to have been
developed for Windows 3.0 for beta testing purposes. For
earlier versions of Windows you can check to see if the
operating system supports this functionality. In such cases
the executable filename is likely drwatson.exe or dwwin.exe.
If you are running Windows XP, Microsoft recommends that you
use Drwtsn32.exe (see the Run command instructions below).
They offer online information about the Dr. Watson debugging
tool here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308538.
You can also find information about how to disable and
enable Dr. Watson here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;188296.
Both of these articles apply to Windows XP and the second
article applies also to Server 2003, Windows 2000 (Server
versions and Pro), and Windows NT operating systems.
Dr. Watson at Your Service
A typical computer malfunction involves the following: an
application runs into an error and the system looks for a
program dedicated to deal with errors (an “error handler”).
If one is not found the application checks if it is being
debugged. If it is not it is considered “unhandled” and
then it looks to the registry for a program error debugger.
This is where Dr. Watson steps in to the picture. For
Microsoft XP systems, Dr. Watson will generate a log file
called: drwtsn32.log (for Windows 95, 98, and ME systems the
file has a .wlg extension). This file was created for
experienced technicians for the purposes of analysis but
there is useful information that you can obtain.
You can configure Dr. Watson so that it works as you want it
to. To begin, you can launch the Dr. Watson tool by doing
the following:
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Click Start and Select Run.
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In the Open field type: drwtsn32
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Click OK.
Note: depending on your operating system (such as Windows 95
and 98), you may have to type “drwatson” or “dwwin”.
However, you will not get the following window and the
option of modifying the settings. Instead the debugger tool
is launched and it checks for errors. It will continue to
run in the background. During this time you can
double-click the Dr. Watson icon in the system tray to check
for errors. To close the Dr. Watson tool you can
right-click on the icon in the taskbar and select Close.
For Windows XP, the drwtsn32 command will open
a
dialog
box.
Settings
You can change the Dr. Watson settings. It helps if you
have some understanding of the options. Here are some
helpful tips:
-
If you select the Dump Symbol Table option the log
file table will get quite large in size.
-
Leave the Dump All Thread Contexts option checked so
as to record all the details of potential issues.
-
The Append To Existing Log File option is best when
you do not have a lot of errors occurring and you do not
want to have a build up of files.
-
And, of course, the Create Crash Dump File option is
required to have an actual recording of a crash error.
The settings that might be easier for you to intuit include
the path fields at the top, the notification settings, and
the application errors section.
- If
you want to be alerted when an error occurs by way of visual
or sound notification you will need to
select one of the corresponding settings. If you choose a
sound notification, the Wave File field is enabled
and you can select a wave file that you can recognize as an
alert.
-
In the Application Errors section, Dr. Watson will display a
list of any programs that have crashed or have the result of
system failure.
-
With the path fields you can take note of the location where
the log file and .dmp file are written to and stored. For
an XP system, the log file is named “drwtsn32.log” and is
saved to: drive:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Dr Watson. The second path
is for the crash dump file: a memory dump file created when
a fatal system error or stop error occurs. It is stored in
the same folder and is called “user.dmp”. You can change
the location of these paths by typing in a new path or using
the Browse buttons. To locate the files you can do a search
in Windows Explorer using the filename. AN easy method is
to simply copy the file path from the Dr. Watson dialog
(right-click on the path field and select Copy) and then
open your Windows Explorer dialog and paste the path in the
Address bar (right-click in the Address bar and select
Enter).
Indubitably Watson!
Once you locate the log file you can get more information
about application errors that have occurred. The log file
can open using a text application like Notepad or WordPad.
New error information is appended to the log file every time
there is an error that involves Dr. Watsom. While there is
a lot of hexadecimal and binary data listed in this file
that is for technicians, there is some useful information
available for the regular user as well. For example:
Application exception occurred:
App: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
(pid=3696)
When: 5/23/2007 @ 11:32:18.453
Exception number: c0000005 (access violation)
With this information you can get and idea of the program
that experienced an application exception and when it
occurred. You can use this to perform some online searches
or contact computer technicians for possible solutions. The
next section in the log file is “System Information” which
is an overview of your computer, “Task List” which is an
outline of the applications and system process running when
the issue occurred, and the “Module List” which details each
file that was called up until the error (typically DLL –
Dynamic Link Library files).
When Does Dr. Watson Get The Call?
As you likely deduced, if Dr. Watson is being utilized then
something has gone wrong with your computer. It could be
related to application errors or it could be a system crash
or you may be experiencing hardware failures that are
affecting the functionality of your applications. It can be
challenging finding out just what is going wrong with your
system. With Windows XP operating systems, when you run
into a system crash, also know as a stop error, your
computer is set to restart automatically. See our Stop
Error article to find out how to change this setting. (
http://www.fix-pc-errors.com/stop-errors.htm )
There are specific reasons that could cause a Dr. Watson
error that are made known through the Microsoft support site
http://support.microsoft.com.
Some of these include: closing Microsoft Internet Explorer
3.02, printing to a PostScript printer when using the Arial
Unicode Microsoft TrueType font, running an application that
uses Utildll.dll, and starting Microsoft Outlook 98. While
these errors may not occur every time you perform one of
these actions, there are instances when they do. The
associated Microsoft support page will have information on
how to resolve the issues. You can go to the support site
and do a search to get started.
Clever Deduction
There are instances when you can look to a log file and get
a specific answer to a specific issue. However, too often
this is not the case. Finding the answer can be a process
of looking for clues and being a good detective. There are
many instances when a Microsoft computer and regular online
activities leads to crashes and errors without any clear
cause. Over time, you are likely to have installed and
uninstalled many software programs. As a result your system
can suffer from poor performance or it can become unstable.
Even the creators of software programs do not know how one
application will react with others and there are software
applications that leave unwanted files and temporary items
on your computer. Orphaned and unwanted items can lead to
clutter and degradation of system functioning.
To Catch A Thief
As careful as you are in keeping your computer running
efficiently, there are situations outside of your control.
One example of this is having items downloaded to your
computer without your prior knowledge or consent. This is
where the real crime happens. You can surf to a web site
and it could be hosting malicious software, also known as “malware”.
This has been commonly referred to as a “drive-by-download”.
Many users know of cookies that are downloaded to their
system when visiting a site. These are referred to as web
cookies and are used for purposes of authentification,
tracking information, and storing data about users including
their site preferences. While these are not inherently
dangerous, they can pose a threat and become a security and
privacy risk.
While web cookies only pose a low to moderate threat, there
are many other greater threats to security and to your
overall computer functioning. The spread of malware is
becoming a greater concern than computer viruses. They are
use stealthy tactics. In many instances you can retrace
your steps to find out where a computer issue may have
occurred. For example, you might have installed a new
hardware device or a particular software program. However,
it is far more difficult to tell when items have been
downloaded to your system and automatically installed.
These items are covert – they utilize sophisticated and
unethical methodology in order to be installed and to evade
being removed from your system. Many times users do not
realize their computers are infected and can be handcuffed
in attempting to detect and remove all the unwanted items.
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