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Dr.Watson Postmortem Debugger has Encountered a Problem and Needs to Close

Published by: Alex George on January 15, 2025

Yesterday night, while working on my computer, I saw the error message "Dr.Watson Postmortem Debugger has encountered a Problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

My computer froze when I pressed the 'don't send report' button. Since I couldn't work anymore, I restarted it, but again, the same Dr. Watson Postmortem Debugger came up with a sorry message.

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I could not do anything on the desktop PC. So, I started browsing on my Laptop. The first thing I did was a search using the error message and found many people were facing the same issue.

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I saw multiple opinions about the error message as a system error and a possible malware attack. While surfing more, I found it was not a malware infection.


It is a built-in Windows debugger program.


Microsoft uses the Dr. Watson Postmortem Debugger to collect error reports from devices run on the Windows Operating system.


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How to Fix the Dr.Watson Postmortem Debugger Error Message?

Anna Maria asked me in the comment section whether the Dr. Watson tool is essential for running Windows. I also had this doubt. So, I did some research on Microsoft KB.

As I expected, it is not an essential tool for a user.

From Microsoft KB, I found out that we can safely disable this tool. I saw a similar question from Kavya R Nair in the comment section and let me answer it here.


We can either delete or disable it without affecting the functionality of our computers.


So, I decided to disable this program to make my desktop PC work again. I tried to log on to my Desktop computer and successfully logged on to the Windows account after a few unsuccessful attempts. Then, I followed the steps below.


How to disable the Dr. Watson Postmortem Debugger?



  1. Click on start

  2. Click on Run (Or press the Windows and R keys together to open the Run). Type drwtsn32 on the Run window and Click on OK. Now, the Dr. Watson Postmortem Debugger options window will open.

    It looks like the image below.


    check

  3. Uncheck all the checkboxes under options and click OK.


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My special thanks to Jessica for reminding me to update this part.



Where Can I read the Dr. Watson Postmortem Debugger Log Files?

As I explained before, it is a default unnecessary program installed by Microsoft to collect information regarding software errors or bugs. It keeps a log file that stores all software errors that happened and sends it to Microsoft.

Ahammed Salam asked me if we could read the log file. Yes, we can read it.

The log file created by Dr. Watson Postmortem Debugger records all kinds of software errors that occur, and to read this log file, you may navigate to the following location.



C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\DrWatson



George William Carrell asked me in the comment section about opening this file.

It is saved in the name drwtsn32 and can open in Notepad. This log file contains Application exceptions that occurred, System Information, Task List, etc.

Sarath Sidharth asked a question. He wishes to learn the steps to change the default log file location.

We can change the log file path of the Dr. Watson Postmortem Debugger by accessing it by following the steps below.


  1. Click the Windows Start button, and click the Run.

  2. Type drwtsn32 on the Run and press OK.


    What is

    You can change current settings (including the log file location) from here. You can specify a different address for the log file if you want.


Since it is an error reporting tool from Microsoft, you will get the error message "Dr.Watson Postmortem Debugger has encountered a Problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience" when a program crashes. It is not because of virus infection but a feature (unnecessary though) that does its duty only in an annoying way.

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Reference

CoreNetworkZ Tech Solutions believes in the concept of sharing resources for readers who want to learn more about this topic. I suggest you visit the following external web pages to learn more.

  1. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/performance/disable-enable-dr-watson-program
  2. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/what-is-this-drwatson-postmortem-debugger-all/103ec0fe-f98f-453a-a726-cfeaacf282d8
Posted by

17 comments:

  1. Ajay Raj12:11 AM

    why IP ADDRESS 127.0.0.1 is taken from Class B

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Admin1:52 PM

      Hi Ajay,

      127.0.0.1 is called loop back address. You cannot use this address for any kind of network connections other than representing your own computer.

      Delete
  2. Joey4:45 AM

    I am having the same problem but It doesn't give me the time to click on run and type anything in before it pops up a freezes. I went in safe made and it still does the same thing. I am furious with it now. I am also getting the same problem error about explorer. What in the world could I do? I can't open, download, or hardly look at anything before it freezes. PLEASE someone email me at earthquakemagma@comcast.net with some solutions. Thanks alot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Admin1:50 PM

      Hi Joey, You should try to boot your computer in clean boot. They try the steps provided in the same post.

      Delete
  3. Admin3:42 AM

    Hi TuneUP,

    I have read your article and understand there Dr. Watson Postmortem Debugger is not affecting the functionality of our computer.

    I disabled this Windows error reporting feature only because I found it as a nuisance. I never checked whether it affects the performance of our Windows XP computer or not.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anna Maria3:52 AM

    Hello Alex,

    Is this Doctor Watson tool an essential part of the Windows operating system?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kavya R Nair4:00 AM

    Hello Alex George,

    I wish to turn off Doctor Watson on my Windows Laptop. Can you help me?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Admin4:01 AM

      Sure Kavya,

      I have added the steps to turn off the Doctor Watson tool on a Windows Laptop.

      Delete
  6. Ahammed Salam4:07 AM

    Hello Alex,

    It is a helpful tutorial. Can we read the log files of the Doctor Watson tool on our computers?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Admin4:07 AM

      Thank you for your comment Ahammed. Yes, we can read. I have explained it in the tutorial.

      Delete
  7. Jessica Cao4:09 AM

    Hello Alex,

    You missed the steps to turn off Dr. Watson Debugger.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Admin4:10 AM

      Thank you Jessica for reminding me. I have updated the tutorial.

      Delete
  8. George William Carrell4:17 AM

    Which tool should I use to open the Doctor Watson log file?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Admin4:18 AM

      Hello George,

      You can open the Doctor Watson log file with Notepad.

      Delete
  9. Sarath Sidharth4:24 AM

    Thank you for this wonderful guide, Alex. I have one question. Is it allowed to change the Doctor Watson log file location?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Admin4:24 AM

      Yes Sarath, you can change the default location. I have explained the steps in the guide.

      Delete

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