Beginning with Windows XP, Dr. Watson (drwtsn32.exe)[4] was extended with (dwwin.exe) "Problem Reports and Solutions".[5] On some versions of Windows the older version (drwatson.exe) may be available by typing "drwatson.exe" into the command prompt box or in the 'Search programs and files' box in the Start menu in Windows 7.[citation needed]
Windows 98 includes a version of Dr. Watson, the Diagnostics software. However, Dr. Watson is not loaded at default, nor will you find an entry in the place where you would expect it: in the Programs > Accessories > System Tools.To have Dr. Watson running all the time, create a shortcut in your \Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp folder to the file \Windows\Drwatson.exe. When you restart your PC, you will see the Dr. Watson icon in the System tray (the indented part at the right on your Taskbar).If you only occasionally want to run Dr. Watson, you can also just type drwatson in the Run > Open dialog box (click Start > Run).When you double-click this icon, Dr. Watson will create a snapshot of your system, and display any errors it finds.If you choose View > Advanced View from the menu, you can see some information on the state of your system. Dr. Watson will sow you a Diagnostics, System, Tasks, Startup, Kernel Drivers, User Drivers, MS-DOS Drivers and a 16-bit Modules tab, with all kinds of information.
To start Dr. Watson when Windows starts, put a shortcut to DRWATSON.exe in your Windows Startup group. To do this:
The genuine dwwin.exe file is a software component of Dr Watson Application Program Debugger by Microsoft Corporation.
The name "dwwin.exe" has been used for years by Microsoft in application program error reporting and handling software. Their approach has changed repeatedly and "dwwin.exe" may refer to different code. It was called "Watson Client" in the "Dr. Watson" debugger, still found in "C:\Windows\System32" as "drwtsn32.exe" in XP systems or as "drwatson.exe" in Win7. For a limited time there was Microsoft Error Reporting (MER), whose main executable was "dw20.exe", had no "dwwin.exe", and resided in "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\DW". MER only worked for Win2000 SP3, WinXP, or Windows Server 2003. Vista made MER obsolete but the location in "%COMMON FILES%\Microsoft Shared\DW" persisted. Since Vista, the Windows Error Reporting (WER) API has enabled developers to customize the error-handling interface. "Dwwin.exe" can still be found in "C:\Windows\System32" on Win8 described as "Windows Error Reporting." Rather than uninstalling, registry key settings can disable Windows error handling software.