How to use Event Viewer in Windows

Solution

How to use Event Viewer in Windows

The Event Viewer is a tool in Windows that displays detailed information about significant events on your computer.  Examples of these are programs that don't start as expected, or automatically downloaded updates.  Event Viewer is especially useful for troubleshooting Windows and application errors.
 

Event Viewer displays these types of events:

·         Error: A significant problem, such as loss of data or loss of functionality. For example, if a service fails to load during startup, an error will be logged.

·         Warning: An event that is not necessarily significant, but may indicate a possible future problem. For example, when disk space is low, a warning will be logged.

·         Information: An event that describes the successful operation of an application, driver, or service. For example, when a network driver loads successfully, an Information event will be logged.

·         Success Audit: An audited security access attempt that succeeds. For example, a user's successful attempt to log on to the system will be logged as a Success Audit event.

·         Failure Audit: An audited security access attempt that fails. For example, if a user tries to access a network drive and fails, the attempt will be logged as a Failure Audit event.

The Event Log service starts automatically when you start Windows. Application and System logs can be viewed by all users, but Security logs are accessible only to administrators.

Using the event logs in Event Viewer, you can gather information about hardware, software, and system problems and monitor Windows security events.

To access the Event Viewer in Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Server 2012 R2:

1.    Right click on the Start button and select Control Panel > System & Security and double-click Administrative tools

2.    Double-click Event Viewer

3.    Select the type of logs that you wish to review (ex: Application, System)

NOTE: To access the Application Logs once in Event Viewer, go to Windows Logs > Application, for shutdown errors refer to Application and System logs.
 

To access the Event Viewer in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012:

1.    Hover mouse over bottom left corner of desktop to make the Start button appear

2.    Right click on the Start button and select Control Panel > System Security and double-click Administrative Tools

3.    Double-click Event Viewer

4.    Select the type of logs that you wish to review (ex: Application, System)

NOTE: To access the Application Logs once in Event Viewer, go to Windows Logs > Application, for shutdown errors refer to Application and System logs.
 

To access the Event Viewer in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2:

1.    Click Start > Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools

2.    Double-click Event Viewer

3.    Select the type of logs that you wish to review (ex: Windows Logs)

NOTE: To access the Application Logs once in Event Viewer, go to Windows Logs > Application, for shutdown errors refer to Application and System logs.