LeeTutor's Doing Windows
Windows Tips Categories
System Tools Tips
DIAGNOSE PROBLEMS WITH DR. WATSON
Windows 95 has a built-in system tool called Dr. Watson
(if you chose to install it) which is of great help for
technical support personnel when trying to diagnose
system problems. It's in Windows 98 also, and it has been
much improved. When you choose to use it, it waits in the
background for some program or operating system error to
occur, and then creates a log file containing technical
information about what took place.
Here is how to run Dr. Watson: click the Start Button,
then Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and
finally System Information. The System Information
application has a Tools menu, from which Dr. Watson can
be selected. Doing so causes a small icon to be placed in
the System Tray area of the Task Bar (lower right hand
corner, if your task bar is in its normal place at the
bottom edge of the Desktop.) When you right click on the
System Tray icon for Dr. Watson, choose Dr. Watson on the
context menu to get a snapshot of the current conditions.
If you choose "Options" from the context menu,
you can find out how many errors were recorded since
first starting Dr. Watson, and if you click "Open
Log File", you can see a display of what took place
in more detail. If you can't figure out what this
information says and how to use it, call up your
Technical Support person, and perhaps he/she can help.
