Fix CPU problems in the Windows EventLog service in an easy steps. Windows records every key event that occurs on your computer.
The majority of these files provide information about program actions, settings changes, and other daily activities. However, logs also record when things don’t perform properly, making them useful for troubleshooting.
In Windows, there are numerous ways to view log files to identify issues such as crashes, freezes, and failed processes. We’ll go over the best ways for locating the solutions you require.
Locate Logs Using File Explorer
To see all of the log files on your PC, launch File Explorer and navigate to your C: disc (or whatever is your primary drive letter).
In the search box, type *.log and hit Enter. This will scan your whole hard drive for Windows and program logs, which could take a few minutes.
There are likely to be thousands of results spread across multiple folders, so filter the list to show only the most recent events.
On the File Explorer toolbar, click the Date Modified button and select Today, Yesterday, or This Week.
To open a plain-text log file in Notepad, double-click it. Most logs contain technical information that only developers will understand, although you may encounter a clear English reference to the mistake you’re experiencing, such as a missing file or an inaccurate number.
Examine Event Viewer Logs
Built-in to Windows Event Viewer allows you to explore logs of all events that occur on your computer, including when something goes wrong.
If a program has crashed, an activity has failed, or you’ve encountered the Blue Screen of Death, Event Viewer can assist you in determining the cause.
Enter the event into the Start menu search bar and click Event Viewer to open it. The crucial data is kept in Windows Logs, so double-click that option in the folder tree to examine its subfolders.
If the issue is with a specific application or service, select Application. If the problem is with Windows, such as a startup or shutdown error, select System. Either option will display a long series of logs, including the dates and times of events.
Look for logs labeled Warning (which usually implies something unexpected happened), Error (something went wrong), or Critical (something urgently needs addressing).
To avoid having to scroll through the entire list, go to the View menu and select Sort By > Level to prioritize problem-related reports.
Alternatively, in the Actions section, select Filter Current Log to filter the logs by date and severity. Select a Logged option, such as Last 24 hours or Last 7 Days, from the Logged menu. Click OK after checking the boxes for Error and Critical.
You may also view all warnings, errors, and critical events across all log types by selecting Custom Views > Administrative Events from the folder tree.
This list does not include information logs regarding successful operations, making it easier to navigate.
You may save even more time by searching for log files for a certain software or Windows function. In the Actions list, select Find, enter the name of the tool and keep clicking Find Next to browse the relevant logs.
Select a log to view event details in the area below. Double-click the log to see an Event Properties window with further details.
The log summary may suggest the source of the problem, but you’ll most likely have to find it out on your own. In a moment, we’ll explain how.
Look Through Logs
Unless you know exactly what you’re looking for, navigating SnakeTail Event Viewer can be slow and difficult.
Download, extract, and run the free application SnakeTail to browse event logs more quickly and easily. It is not necessary to install it. Once the download is complete, simply double-click the file to execute it.
Download: SnakeTail for Windows 10 (Free)X
Navigate to File > Open EventLog and select an appropriate log type, such as Application or System. SnakeTail includes a tabbed interface, which allows you to browse many log listings at the same time.
In addition to immediately loading logs, SnakeTail makes it simple to filter them. To see just relevant results, right-click a level (such as Error), a date, or a source and select Add Filter. Select an event to get more information in the section below.
How to Use FullEvenLogView to Browse Logs
FullEventLogView from NirSoft is also worth a look. This free program displays all of your logs in a single interface and allows you to organize the data by event time, level, provider, and keywords.
The download links can be found at the bottom of the page. When your download is finished, launch the software.
View Reliability Monitor Logs
Rather than scrolling through extensive lists of logs, utilize Windows’ built-in Reliability Monitor to visually examine the key ones. This makes it much easier to determine when and why an error or critical event happened.
To get to Reliability Monitor quickly, type reliability into the Start menu search field and then click View reliability history.
You can browse Reliability’s graph by Days or Weeks, and you can navigate back and forth over time by clicking the arrows on either side.
Look for red error crosses and yellow caution triangles, and then click one of them to see a summary in the box below.
Because Reliability Monitor only emphasizes hardware and software issues that have negatively impacted your system’s stability, you won’t see as many events as you would in Event Viewer.
To read a description of the problem, click View technical details. You can also select View all problem reports (which Reliability Monitor refers to as logs) to view all of the recent stability issues that your PC has experienced.
Use Logs to Solve Specific Issues
Although Event Viewer tells you what caused an error or critical event on your computer, its logs do not assist you in resolving the issue.
In an Event Properties window, clicking the Event Log Online Help link simply transmits the log to Microsoft and opens the Microsoft Support site (on the homepage, not a relevant article).
Fortunately, EventID.Net, an amazing website, is available to assist. This not only explains what certain Windows events represent but also indicates how serious (or not) they are and provides the necessary troubleshooting guidance.
Copy and paste the Event ID number from Event Viewer (or SnakeTail) into the EventID.Net homepage’s search box, along with the Source (the program or service). For example, if you’ve had a Blue Screen of Death (BSoD), the Event ID is normally 41, but the source varies (Kernel-Power is a common one).
The site’s search engine will return events that fit your criteria, along with helpful comments from the EventID.Net community. There are various probable causes and solutions for BSoD errors, all of which are fully documented.
At the time of writing, EventID.Net’s vast database had 11,588 Windows event IDs and 638 event sources, as well as 19,234 comments. Although the website is free to use, several services, such as rewriting event descriptions in plain English, require a paid subscription.
If EventID.Net is not of assistance, or if the log does not contain an ID number, copy and paste the event summary into Google or the Microsoft Community site. Someone else has most certainly encountered the same issue.
Final thought
Windows logs can be your hidden weapon in troubleshooting when your computer starts performing weirdly.
Knowing where to look for logs, how to read them, and what to do with the information they contain can help you rapidly discover the source of problems and, hopefully, resolve them.
If logs do not provide the answer, numerous more free tools are available for diagnosing Windows problems. Some will require downloading, while others are conveniently embedded into the operating system.
