Using the Windows Event Viewer for troubleshooting

When troubleshooting Windows applications or server problems, the Event Viewer is often one of the first tools to examine.

You can start Event Viewer from the Run dialog:

eventvwr.msc

The most commonly used logs are:

Application
System
Security

The Application log contains messages written by applications and services. The System log records events generated by Windows components and device drivers. Finally, the Security log records auditing information if auditing has been enabled.

Each event includes information such as the event source, event ID, severity, and a descriptive message. When troubleshooting IIS, ASP.NET, or Windows services, Event Viewer often provides valuable diagnostic information that is not visible elsewhere.

The Event Viewer is very handy for investigating startup failures, application errors, and unexpected system behavior. Every Windows administrator should be familiar with it.

Hope this helps!