Dr Watson Postmortem Debugger error.............HELP!

Question

I recently started receiving an error message on my work computer.  We are on Windows XP Professional SP2.  Coincidentally after installing SP2, any time I try to open a folder from my desktop, I get 'DrWaston Postmortem Debugger has encountered an error and needs to close, then my computer freezes up and I have to shut it down.  I cannot even get other features like 'my computer' and 'control panel' to work in the 'start menu'.  I can only access my files directly thru Word or Excel.  In addition to that, numerous problems with accessing the internet.....explorer shuts down by itself.  We consistently get porn websites that attach on to the favorites folders.....we delete them and they appear again.  I am also getting error messages that read 'IEBR.EXE - Bad Image' The application or DLL c:/windows/system32/............(different dll extensions each time)   We had a computer tech (or I guess he claims to be one.....not really sure) come to look at the problem.  He claims that there is a problem with the Windows software.  Problem is we cannot find the installation disks to reinstall.  He suggested that we transfer all the information to the second computer that we have which is a newer one (4 months old).  That computer is on Windows XP Home Edition SP2.    The two computers are not linked, because he says that we cannot do it with two different OS.  My first minor question would be, can we link these two computers?   Now on to the major problem.  He suggested that we transfer all our files onto the newer computer.  I spent almost an entire day doing this.  After finally transferring all files.......I now get the same Dr Waston error on the newer computer!  We have a firewall, run virus scans, adware and spybot and nothing major has come up.  The only weird thing is that on the newer computer I am now continually getting a message saying that my virus scan is not turned on and my computer is at risk.  When I check it thru Norton Utilities, it shows that it is active.   I am not very familiar with computers (technical stuff)  and I don't know how to even go about fixing/diagnosing this problem.  Can anyone out there guide me thru  step by step?

JarmoD · Answer

The two computers are not linked, because he says that we cannot do it with two different OS. My first minor question would be, can we link these two computers?

Yes you can as long as you have the appropiate connectivity (crossover ethernet cable, or ethernet cable and auto-sensing NICs, or two ethernet cables and a hub/router).

Now on to the major problem. He suggested that we transfer all our files onto the newer computer. I spent almost an entire day doing this. After finally transferring all files.......I now get the same Dr Waston error on the newer computer!

What did you transfer to the new computer (just your documents or a bunch of programs too?) and how (by diskette?)?

artfullink · Answer

Hi JarmoD,   Thanks for responding.  I transferred Word and Excel documents only (200-300 documents).....no programs.  I transferred them via diskettes as the CD burner on the main computer doesn't seem to be working either.   I look forward to hearing back from you.

JarmoD · Answer

I transferred Word and Excel documents only (200-300 documents).....no programs. I transferred them via diskettes as the CD burner on the main computer doesn't seem to be working either.

OK, it's hard to imagine that just transferring documents could cause the symptoms you're now seeing on the 2nd computer.

I know you've run various tools to check for viruses and so on but you still may want to consider reading this Caught A Virus? article and act on some of its recommendations.

Then I'd consider re-starting in Safe Mode and attempt to diagnose the problems.

If none of this helps then you may need to repair or even re-install Windows and that will require the install media (CDs).

ora1313 · Answer

It is not hard to fix...Print this out

It is not a virus, nor do you have to down-load anything to fix it. And for God Sake, do not re-format your pc.......or mess with your registry!

A Tech informed me it is a microsoft problem, don’t know if it is true, it seems to be. Problems are from an update from microsoft with the SP2....Tech didn’t know how to fix it, but I figured it out........

When the error box pops up, click on the link in the box see error file........You will see a path or 2 that looks something like this:

c:\docume~1\user\locals~1\Temp\werabbb.dir00\DRWTSN32.exe.mdmp

Write it down

Now, Re-Boot computer in safe-mode.............press F8 as soon as it starts to re-boot: This brings you into safe-mode. Here, you can get into your files.

Go into Windows Explorer, follow the path and delete the file: DRWTSN32.exe.

Now step 2: Go into the control panel, then add/remove programs. Find the program.........SP2 and click uninstall. This is the up-date from microsoft. You don’t need it anyway. If you don’t do both steps, it will just re-load.

Then, Re-boot system in normal mode, it should be ok.

Hope this helps, it worked for me....Let me know

Donna

Windows General

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