Many Windows users don’t realize that Windows keeps logs of almost everything it does. And these logs are easy to review for any recorded problems. Windows may be trying to tell you something – you’d best listen. Don’t wait for trouble when you can easily head it off.
I recommend that you inspect your ‘Windows Event Logs’ (for at least the Windows operating system) weekly, and do so right after starting your computer, so you’ll know about any current startup errors – not just old ones which Windows may have fixed already or which are intermittent.
You’d be wise to also look at the separate Event Logs for your applications (programs), and for security events.
Finding the Event Logs:
Follow this path:
[Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Logs], then choose which logs to view from the list on the left.
First, go to the Control Panel and click on "Administrative Tools'
..then open the Event Viewer..
..then inspect the Windows logs.
What to look for:
The Event Logs will show white “Information” disks for events that went according to plan (ignore those), yellow “Warnings” for stuff you can probably ignore and the usual red disks for serious problems.
If you see any red disks, double-click on those events for a pop-up box with an explanation – probably an obscure technical one. You can copy and paste the error number or error name into a Google search to learn more, or you can copy it into an email to your computer guru. Don’t ignore red items – they are likely to already be causing trouble or to get worse over time.
Until next time – happy sleuthing…
_jim coe
Tags: event logs
