How to make a Dr Watson log

Dr Watson is a handy little diagnostic program that is included with Windows.  If Dr Watson is running when a program crashes (general protection fault, access violation, ...) it saves information about the crash to a log file.  This log file can be very useful in diagnosing the crash.

• Windows XP
• Windows 98 and ME
• Windows 95
• Windows NT

Windows XP

By default, Dr Watson is always running under Windows XP.  Dr Watson writes a log file when the program crashes with a message box like this:

Unless you've changed Dr Watson's options, it writes the log file to the folder:

C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/Microsoft/Dr Watson

The "Application Data" folder is not normally visible in Windows Explorer, so to open the folder you may need to copy the complete folder name from this email message and then paste it into the "Address" field of a Windows Explorer window.

Dr Watson creates two files: drwtsn32.log and user.dmp.  Please send both files as email attachments to support@panoramafactory.com or upload them through the Trouble report form.

The drwtsn32.log file accumulates information every time a program crashes.  In this case, the file will be very large (over 100 KB) because it contains information about many crashes.  If you wish, you can delete drwtsn32.log before running The Panorama Factory again so that it will contain information only about the most recent crash.

On the other hand, Dr Watson may not create a log file if the program crashes with a message box like this:

In this situation, please send a screen capture of the message box:

1. Do not close the message box until after step 3.
2. Click the title bar of the message box to make it the active window.
3. While you are holding down the ALT key on your keyboard, press the PRINT SCREEN key.
4. You may now close the message box by clicking "OK".
5. Use the Windows Start Menu (in the lower left hand corner of your screen) to select Start->Accessories->Paint.
6. Use Edit-Paste in the Windows Paint program to paste the window capture.
7. Save the image in a file. JPG format is fine and will save space.
8. Please send the JPG file as an email attachment to support@panoramafactory.com or upload it through the Trouble report form.

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Windows 98

In Windows 98 you must start Dr Watson running before your program crashes.  You can use Start/Run and enter drwatson in the Run dialog.  When the program crashes, Dr Watson writes a description of the failure to c:\Windows\DrWatson\Watson##.wlg.   Each log file gets a new number substituted for the ##.

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Windows 95

I'm not sure whether these instructions for Windows 95 are correct.  Can anyone confirm or make corrections?

In Windows 95 you must start Dr Watson running before your program crashes.  You can use Start/Run and enter drwatson in the Run dialog.  When the program crashes, Dr Watson adds a description of the failure to c:\Windows\DrWatson\DrWatson.log.

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Windows NT

I'm not sure whether these instructions for Windows NT are correct.  Can anyone confirm or make corrections?

By default, Dr Watson is always running under Windows NT.  When the program crashes, Dr Watson writes a log file to c:\Winnt\drwtsn32.log.

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Revised: April 05, 2007

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