Extended crash information can be captured by Microsoft's "Dr Watson" tool. When a system crash occurs, Dr Watson will be started automatically and a temporary log file created. This log file can be used to determine the cause of the crash.
The procedure below explains how to generate a Dr Watson log file:
Firstly, make Dr Watson your default debugging tool by:
On Windows 2000:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Dr Watson\drwtsn32.log
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Dr Watson\user.dmp
On Windows XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Dr Watson\drwtsn32.log
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Dr Watson\user.dmp
The procedure below explains how to generate a Dr Watson log file:
Firstly, make Dr Watson your default debugging tool by:
- Selecting Start|Run... from the windows Start menu and type into the text box where it says "Open:"
drwtsn32.exe -i
Note: The -i switch tells Dr Watson to install itself as the default debugging tool. If you want to view or change any of the settings (e.g. the default location of the log files), you can omit this switch and Dr Watson will launch its configuration program instead.
- Click the OK button.
On Windows 2000:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Dr Watson\drwtsn32.log
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Dr Watson\user.dmp
On Windows XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Dr Watson\drwtsn32.log
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Dr Watson\user.dmp