658 Computer Service and Repair
right-click the icon to open it. You can also access Dr. Watson, as mentioned
earlier, through
Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | System
Information, click on the
Tools
menu, and then choose
Dr.
Watson.
By accessing
View
from the menu and selecting
Advanced
View, you can
view the drivers, startup programs, and many more items, Figure 15-15. Dr.
Watson can also write to a log to save errors and the descriptions of faults. These
descriptions can be used when contacting support. Dr. Watson cannot diagnose
a system hang or lockup condition. Starting with Windows Vista, Dr. Watson has
been replaced with Problem Reports and Solutions. This utility is discussed later
in this section.
DirectX Diagnostic Tool
DirectX is a software development tool used for multimedia applications. It allows
programmers to directly access many of the built-in features of Windows. A poorly
written program using DirectX can cause severe system hangs or crashes. The DirectX
Diagnostic Tool looks at every DirectX program file on the computer, Figure 15-16. You
can look for non-Microsoft approved program labels here. If it is Microsoft approved,
you should not have a problem. That cannot be said for other programmers’ tools.
DirectX program files are abundant. They are used for game development and all
types of multimedia programs. The Directx Diagnostic Tool is still incorporated into
Windows Vista, but it is much more sophisticated than earlier versions.
System File Checker
The System File Checker (sfc.exe) can be run to check for corrupt, changed,
or missing files from Windows-based applications. See Figure 15-17. It can
also be used to restore system files. To start the System File Checker program
in Windows versions earlier than Windows XP, select it from the
Tools
menu
in the
Microsoft System Information
utility, or type
sfc
in the
Run
dialog box.
In Windows XP, you can access the system file checker by typing
sfc
at the
command prompt. The responsibilities of System File Checker are incorporated
directly into the Windows Vista Resource Checker, but it can still be run from the
command prompt with administrator rights using the
sfc
command.
Figure 15-15.
The advanced view
in Dr. Watson can be
shown by selecting
the
View
menu and
selecting
Advanced
View. Running Dr.
Watson places an
icon in the system
tray. You can activate
the program from
there.