Dr. Watson (debugger)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Windows Error Reporting. (Discuss)
Dr. Watson invoked on Windows XP.
Dr. Watson invoked on Windows XP.

In Microsoft Windows, Dr. Watson[1] is an application debugger included with the operating system. It is usually named drwatson.exe, drwtsn32.exe or dwwin.exe depending on the version of Windows. It is named after Doctor Watson of Sherlock Holmes fame, with the idea being that it would collect information (symptoms) following the problem (affliction). The use of the term "Watson" has since, by extension, been expanded.[1]

If a program error occurs, Dr. Watson for Windows starts automatically. To configure Dr. Watson, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. Type drwtsn32, and then click OK.

The Watcom C compiler includes a similar crash-analysis tool named "Dr. Watcom".[2]

[edit] Notes

  • ↑  — Nearly all official Microsoft documents and the application itself give its name as "Dr. Watson".

[edit] References

  1. ^ Why is Windows Error Reporting nicknamed "Dr. Watson"?. Retrieved on 2006-05-21.
  2. ^ Rick Grehan. "Watcom C/C++ Gets a New Face", BYTE, October 1994.

[edit] External Links


This Microsoft Windows article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../d/r/2E/Dr._Watson_%28debugger%29_5c64.html"