Dr.Watson Registry Tweaks

By Joseph Christopher

Everyone knows this famous doc that detects and diagnoses application errors and stores them in files User.dmp and DrWtsn32.log. The DrWtsn32.log file is appended (added to the existing information) each time an application error occurs and the User.dmp file is overwritten (replaced) each time. The log produced by it may shoot up to several GBs leading to low disk space on your Windows drive..

These files (User.dmp and DrWtsn32.log) are located in “\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Dr Watson” directory (Windows XP), “\WINDOWS” directory (Windows NT) and “\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\DrWatson” directory (Windows 2000) of your Windows Drive.

Here’s a list of Registry Tweaks targeting

Turning Off Error Reporting:

One stop solution to completely disable Dr.Watson is by applying the following registry hack ;)

Open your registry editor (Start –> Run –> Regedit –> OK).

For users who are new to Registry Editor : Registry Editor is similar to your Windows Explorer in ‘Explore’ Style. You have a list of paths in Tree format. To browse to a location, say HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft, you need to click the ‘+’ on the left side of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. You’ll now have a list of paths that come under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. Now, click on the ‘+’ near SOFTWARE and similarly, for Microsoft. You have now reached HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft. Now follow the tutorials below.

Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug
Value: Auto
Type: REG_SZ
Data:
0 (0=disable)
1 (1=enable)

Create/Append log file:

The AppendToLogFile value controls whether Dr.Watson creates a new log file or appends data to the existing log file each time an application error occurs..

Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DrWatson
Value: AppendToLogFile
Type: REG_DWORD
Data:
0 (0=new)
1 (1=append)

The CreateCrashDump value controls whether Dr. Watson creates a crash dump file after an application crash has occurred :

Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DrWatson
Value: CreateCrashDump
Type: REG_DWORD
Data:
0 (0=disable)
1 (1=enable)

The DumpAllThreads value controls whether Dr.Watson should dump the contents of all threads during an application error :

Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DrWatson
Value: DumpAllThreads
Type: REG_DWORD
Data:
0 (0=disable)
1 (1=enable)

The DumpSymbols value controls whether Dr. Watson should dump the contents of the symbol tables during an application error :

Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DrWatson
Value: DumpSymbols
Type: REG_DWORD
Data:
0 (0=disable)
1 (1=enable)

The SoundNotification value controls whether Dr. Watson plays a wav file when an application error occurs :

Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DrWatson
Value: SoundNotification
Type: REG_DWORD
Data:
0 (0=disable)
1 (1=enable)

The WaveFile value specifies the path and filename of the wave file to be played during an application error :

Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DrWatson
Value: WaveFile
Type: REG_EXPAND_SZ
Data:
0 (0=disable)
1 (1=enable)

The VisualNotification value controls whether Dr. Watson displays a popup message box when it encounters an application error :

Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DrWatson
Value: WaveFile
Type: REG_DWORD
Data:
0 (0=disable)
1 (1=enable)

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