Windows Event Viewer

The Windows Event Viewer is an administrative tool found in all versions of Windows. It lets you view events, errors, and additional important information about what's happening under the hood in your operating system.

About Windows Events

With Windows, the operating system keeps a record of important and useful information about what is happening on the computer. This information is stored in several logs known collectively as the Windows Event Log.

There are five types of events that are logged:

• Information: Lets you know that an application, service, or driver completed an operation.
• Warning: Informs you of a situation that is probably significant, but not yet a serious problem. For example, low disk space will trigger a warning event.
• Error: Indicates a serious problem that may cause a loss of functionality or data.
• Success Audit: Records a successful event that is audited for security purposes. For example, when a user successfully logs on to the system, a Success Audit event is recorded.
• Failure Audit: Records an unsuccessful event that is audited for security purposes. For example, when a user unsuccessfully tries to log on to the system, a Failure Audit event is recorded.

The Event Viewer lets you view this information by category.

Opening the Event Viewer

1. Press the Windows key on the keyboard or click Start.
2. In the search, type event viewer or when Event Viewer is highlighted, press the Enter.

or

1. Press Windows key+X (hold down the Windows key and press X) to open the Power User Tasks Menu.
2. Select Event Viewer (or press D).

or

1. Press the Windows key on the keyboard or click Start.
2. In the search, type eventvwr.msc and press Enter.

Component Services, Error, Operating system terms, Troubleshoot, Windows Accessories