How to disable Dr. Watson for Windows

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WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

To disable Dr. Watson

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit.exe in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Locate and click the following registry key:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug

   NOTE: Steps three and four are optional, but they necessary if you want to restore the default use of Dr. Watson.
3. Click the AeDebug key, and then click Export Registry File on the Registry menu.
4. Enter a name and location for the saved registry file, and then click Save.
5. 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, and is configured to run when an application error occurs (with a data value of 1 for the Auto value). The default values are:

To enable Dr. Watson

1. At a command prompt, type the following line, and then press ENTER:
   
   drwtsn32 -i
2. Double-click the .reg file you created in steps three and four above.