You’ve heard of Dr. Watson but,
if you are reading this piece, chances are you aren’t sure
exactly who or what Dr. Watson actually is. Hopefully, you
have already figured out that Dr. Watson, at least the one
we’re referring to here, isn’t a person at all.
Instead, Dr. Watson is
the name of a software utility which is packaged with
Microsoft Windows and is used to detect, decode and log any
errors that a PC user encounters while window or windows
programs are running.
If you frequently encounter errors while using your PC, you
can run Dr. Watson to get additional information about those
errors. To run the program, click on “start,” choose “run,”
and type, "drwatson". Click “ok”. For Windows NT and Windows
2000, type "drwtsn32”. When Dr. Watson is running in the
background, you will either see a new task appear on your
toolbar or your systray. You can also load Dr. Watson into
your startup folder so that the program starts every time you
boot your computer. This is especially helpful if you are
experiencing reoccurring errors.
When Dr. Watson logs an error, it is filed under
“drwtsn32.log” or “user.dmp,” in Windows NT and Windows 2000.
In other versions of Windows, logs are filed with a .wlg or
.txt extension and can be found in “Windows\Drwatson” or
“Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Drwatson”.
Troubleshooting Dr. Watson Errors
If Dr. Watson recognizes an error, then you know something
must be wrong. If you encounter a Dr. Watson error, here are
some basic tips for getting to the root of the problem:
-If the particular error is related to a specific program, be
sure that you have downloaded the latest software updates for
that program.
-If you are using Windows 95 or Windows 98, you can
double-click on the Dr. Watson icon in the systray to view
errors and obtain information about the error. In addition,
you can receive detailed information by clicking “view” and
selecting the “advanced view” option.
-If you are using Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows XP, you
can actually decode the error. Please see the “Decoding Dr.
Watson Errors” section below.
-Be sure that a particular background program is not causing
the error. You can do this by end tasking all Terminate and
Stay Residents (TSR). A TSR is a program that remains in
memory until needed. A good example of a TSR is a virus
scanner.
-If you continue to receive Dr. Watson errors, reinstall the
application that the errors are related to or contact the
manufacturer.
Disabling Dr. Watson in Windows NT?
By default, Dr. Watson is always running in Windows NT. To
disable the software, you must remove it from the Windows
registry as follows:
Open: “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\”.
Locate and delete “AeDebug”.
Decoding a Dr. Watson Error
The following applies to Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows
XP while viewing the drwtsn32.log file. Each new Dr. Watson
error appears at the end of the running log file. Here is what
you will likely see:
Application exception occurred:
App: .\Release\Mcshield.exe (pid=508)
When: 11/3/2001 @ 13:54:08.489
Exception number: c0000005 (access violation)
The first three lines tell us the name of the application
associated with the error, when the error was logged and what
type of error occurred.
System Information:
Computer Name: Cohen
User Name: Leonard
Terminal Session Id: 0
Number of Processors: 1
Processor Type: x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 9
Windows Version: 5.1
Current Build: 2600
Service Pack: 2
Current Type: Uniprocessor Free
Registered Organization:
Registered Owner: Cohen
The above section simply gives information about the PC in
which the error occurred on and specific information about the
PC at the time of the error.
Task List
0 System Process
4 System
596 smss.exe
668 csrss.exe
692 winlogon.exe
736 services.exe
748 lsass.exe
928 svchost.exe
1028 svchost.exe
1184 svchost.exe
1224 svchost.exe
1424 ccSetMgr.exe
1528 Explorer.EXE
1620 ccEvtMgr.exe
268 LEXBCES.EXE
316 spoolsv.exe
376 LEXPPS.EXE
1008 navapsvc.exe
1060 NPROTECT.EXE
1120 SAVScan.exe
1484 svchost.exe
1648 symlcsvc.exe
1280 igfxtray.exe
1292 hkcmd.exe
1348 LXBRKsk.exe
356 ccApp.exe
1608 msmsgs.exe
2956 P2P Networking.exe
2064 ASM.exe
2228 Points Manager.exe
852 Kazaa.exe
2120 adm4005.exe
3796 wuauclt.exe
3612 palm.exe
2060 firefox.exe
3704 HomeSite5.Exe
3260 drwtsn32.exe
The “task list” notes all of the tasks that were running at
the time the error occurred.
Module List
(0000000000400000 - 0000000000aa4000: C:\Program
Files\Macromedia\HomeSite 5\HomeSite5.Exe
(0000000010000000 - 000000001002e000: C:\Program
Files\Macromedia\HomeSite 5\ssce5332.dll
(000000004fec0000 - 000000004fff6000:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\OLE32.DLL
(000000005ad70000 - 000000005ada4000: C:\WINDOWS\System32\uxtheme.dll
(000000005edd0000 - 000000005edea000:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\olepro32.dll
(0000000070a70000 - 0000000070ad6000: C:\WINDOWS\system32\SHLWAPI.dll
(0000000071b20000 - 0000000071b31000: C:\WINDOWS\system32\mpr.dll
(0000000073000000 - 0000000073026000: C:\WINDOWS\System32\winspool.drv
(0000000073b50000 - 0000000073b67000:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\avifil32.dll
(0000000075a70000 - 0000000075a91000:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\msvfw32.dll
(0000000075e90000 - 0000000075f3d000: C:\WINDOWS\System32\SXS.DLL
(0000000075f40000 - 0000000075f5f000: C:\WINDOWS\system32\Apphelp.dll
(0000000076390000 - 00000000763ac000:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\imm32.dll
(00000000763b0000 - 00000000763f5000:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\comdlg32.dll
(0000000076b40000 - 0000000076b6c000: C:\WINDOWS\System32\winmm.dll
(0000000077050000 - 0000000077115000: C:\WINDOWS\System32\COMRes.dll
(0000000077120000 - 00000000771ab000:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\oleaut32.dll
(0000000077340000 - 00000000773cb000:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\comctl32.dll
(00000000773d0000 - 00000000774d2000: C:\WINDOWS\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls_6595b64144ccf1df_6.0.2600.2180_x-ww_a84f1ff9\comctl32.dll
(0000000077be0000 - 0000000077bf4000:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\MSACM32.dll
(0000000077c00000 - 0000000077c07000: C:\WINDOWS\system32\version.dll
(0000000077c10000 - 0000000077c63000: C:\WINDOWS\system32\MSVCRT.DLL
(0000000077d40000 - 0000000077dcd000:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\user32.dll
(0000000077dd0000 - 0000000077e5d000:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ADVAPI32.dll
(0000000077e60000 - 0000000077f46000:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\kernel32.dll
(0000000077f50000 - 0000000077ff7000: C:\WINDOWS\System32\ntdll.dll
(0000000078000000 - 0000000078087000:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\RPCRT4.dll
(000000007c890000 - 000000007c911000: C:\WINDOWS\System32\CLBCATQ.DLL
(000000007cd00000 - 000000007d4fa000:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll
(000000007e090000 - 000000007e0d1000:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\GDI32.dll
The “module list” shows all of the modules that the program
(related to the error) loaded.
State Dump for Thread Id 0x84c
eax=00000500 ebx=00000000 ecx=00403c80 edx=77f79bb8 eip=77e7a2f9
In the first few lines of the “state dump,” the first
combination of letters (eax, ebx, ecx, etc.) refers to the
“register name. The combination of numbers and or letters
(00000500, 00403c80, etc.) refers to the “register value”.
State Dump (continued)
function: kernel32!GetTickCount
77e7a2d3 8bc1 mov eax,ecx
77e7a2d5 c20800 ret 0x8
77e7a2d8 680948e977 push 0x77e94809
77e7a2dd 64a100000000 mov eax,fs:[00000000]
77e7a2e3 50 push eax
77e7a2e4 64892500000000 mov fs:[00000000],esp
FAULT ->77e7a2f9 53 push ebx
The second portion of the “state dump” shows the instruction
disassembly, specifically the “function” (in this case,
kernel32!GetTickCount), the address (the first string of
numbers in lines 2 through 7), and the “fault”.
If you have pinpointed the function, search for it through
Microsoft’s support database or contact the software developer
for information as to why the error is occurring.
Why Not Fix
Windows Errors Automatically with
Regcure!
Clean empty
and corrupted Windows Installer associations,
finally getting rid of the error messages that
plague your PC.
Regcure identifies the windows registry problems
that can lead to many frustrating error
messages, repairing and tuning your registry for
optimal PC performance.
Repair
Windows Errors Once and for all!
Download RegCure Absolutely free
below!
