# Dr. Watson Post Mortem debugger????



## mallard32

Ok i was just looking through the HJT logs in the forum and i noticed that somebody said that they had Dr. Watson Post Mortem debugger. I remember not too long ago maybe a month my computer had "Dr. Watson Post Mortem debugger" in the end now or cancel window. Is this a bad program?


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## mallard32

I just looked up more information but am getting mixed results. People are saying that it comes from Windows XP and is legit "dr watson is a legit program, but acebot is behind it. I am currently trying to kill it and have come accross this site" Acebot is a trojan, so did windows come with a trojan already installed in it? Here is some info i dug up, i am really confused any clarification would be great thanks. 

http://www.computing.net/security/wwwboard/forum/15863.html


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## mallard32

More info that says it is safe and says that it is a virus wow can they make up their mind here http://www.thenerdnetwork.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=45802


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## FlyingPenguins

Dr. Watson is safe. The process starts up when one of your programs crashes and debugs.


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## MicroBell

As stated..the program is safe...but in real life..not needed by the end the user. The "Debug" data when a program crashs is usefull to Microsoft tech support..but not to the average user..as alot of the code is in hex. You can't remove "Dr. Watson Post Mortem debugger" but you can disable it with a simple registry edit that prevents it from running and displaying a message when something crashes.


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## techelp

Microbell,

I agree with you that the program is safe because I just bought a new computer and while I was using the "Windows Update" for downloading and installing the updates for my Win XP SP2 it gave me this error. Could you please shed some light on how to disable this.

Thank you in advance.



MicroBell said:


> As stated..the program is safe...but in real life..not needed by the end the user. The "Debug" data when a program crashs is usefull to Microsoft tech support..but not to the average user..as alot of the code is in hex. You can't remove "Dr. Watson Post Mortem debugger" but you can disable it with a simple registry edit that prevents it from running and displaying a message when something crashes.


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## Brett Kitchens

*Unplug Dr. Watson*

Hello [email protected], here is a way to disable Dr. Watson:

1) click Start>Run>type regedit.exe click OK
2) Locate and click the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug

At this point you may delete the key permanantly, but if you wish to save it, you must click the AeDebug key, and then click 'Export Registry File' on the Registry menu. Choose a name and location for the file and click 'save'.

You may now delete the AeDebug key.

Registry entries for debugger programs are located in the AeDebug key in Windows. The Dr. Watson program is installed by default in Windows. It runs in the background and is completely useless, taking up about 4MB RAM just being a painful irritation to CilyPudi's posterior (and being some more of my computer sending gnarly information to Microsoft!)


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## techelp

Thanks Brett. Also while I was browsing around someone suggested to change the value of Auto in "AeDebug" from 1 to 0. I was not sure if turning the value to 0 would disable the debugger completely or disable only the messages. Do you have any idea?

Thanks



Brett Kitchens said:


> Hello [email protected], here is a way to disable Dr. Watson:
> 1) click Start>Run>type regedit.exe click OK
> 2) Locate and click the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug


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## Brett Kitchens

I'm not sure. I really don't feel competent interpolating the registry. I just learned this procedure, and I was sure I would never want Dr. Watson sending its cryptic messages to Microsoft. It is absolutely of no use for the user. What good does error reporting do? It doesn't help the average user solve any problem. It just sends cryptic error report information about your OS to a Microsoft Technician who (supposedly) diligently interprets the data of each individual little program 'snafu' in the world, and implements new code so it doesn't happen to anyone ever again HA! yea right...just in between patching Windows.

Maybe someone (a Microsoft employee?) can set me straight about the cruciality of worldwide error reporting.

Forget that, I also disable error reporting in ControlPanel>System>Advanced>Error Reporting>click Disable

Beg pardon if long, just surfing and stuff........................


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## Cellus

Microsoft does start to take notice of submitted error reports when they come en masse by multiple people. An isolated incident (and one-off) usually escapes notice, but the error reporting does come up on the radar when it occurs enough times. This is especially useful when a certain kind of error comes up as a result of a recent patch, which aids them in finding the problem and fixing it.

Sending an error report can also give you more information as to what may have happened, as when you send the report you are directed to the Microsoft website and an explanation in semi-layman's terms is given ("It was a device driver that did this." etc).

Sending error reports is like doing your small part to make your experience with Windows slightly less painful.


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## Brett Kitchens

Thank You Cellus! I feel all straightened out now...but
I forgot how to turn all the error reporting stuff back on now!
And.....OH NO!
I accidently shredded the AeDebug key I had copied with Tracks Eraser Pro!!

Can't Microsoft just collect all the data they want with WGA? Or do I need to install an Error Reporting Suite. Couldn't I just use Microsoft as my ISP?
Would moving to Washington state help?

:wink: just kidding Cellus

But I'm still not turning it back on.


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## Cellus

Not a problem Brett, it should always be up to you when information is sent from your computer. Turning off error reporting is your rightful choice.


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## raindance888

Thanks for the info Bro.


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