Windows Inside & Out · Troubleshooting Windows · Lesson 2 of 5

Event Viewer Without Panic

Read the diary Windows keeps, and know why a list of red errors is normal.

Reading the Windows diary

Windows keeps a diary of what happens inside it. You can read it in Event Viewer, a built-in app that lists events. An event is a short note that Windows or an app writes down when something happens.

To open it, right-click the Start button and choose Event Viewer. Or type event viewer in the Start search box.

On the left, open Windows Logs. A log is one list of events. The main ones are:

• Application: events from apps, like a program crashing.
• System: events from Windows itself and its drivers, like a device failing to start.
• Security: sign-ins and other security checks.

Each event has a level that tells you how serious it is.

• Information: something worked normally. This is most of the list.
• Warning: something odd happened, but it may not matter.
• Error: something failed.
• Critical: something serious, like the PC turning off without warning.

The list is long, so use a filter. A filter shows only the events you choose. In the right panel, click Filter Current Log, tick Error, and click OK.

Click an event to read it. The bottom part shows the time, the Source (which part of Windows or which app wrote it), an Event ID number and a plain description. The time is your best clue. Does it match the moment your problem happened?

Reading Event Viewer is safe. Looking does not change anything. On a Mac, the similar app is called Console.

On the practice computer, open Windows Logs and then System, filter the list to show only Errors, and open one to read its description.

Red errors are normal, and scammers know it

The first time you open Event Viewer, you will probably see many errors and warnings. That is normal. Even a brand new, healthy computer has them.

Why so many? Windows writes down every small hiccup. A service may start a second late. An app may fail to reach the internet once while the Wi-Fi was off. Windows tries again and it works. The error stays in the log, but nothing is wrong.

So an error only matters if it lines up with a real problem you noticed. A good rule:

1. Notice the problem first, and the time it happened.
2. Then look for errors at that time.
3. If the same error appears every time the problem happens, search its Source and Event ID on official sites.

Do not try to clear every error. You cannot, and you do not need to.

Watch out for this trick. Fake tech support callers phone people or show pop-ups saying the computer is infected. They ask to connect to your computer from far away. Then they open Event Viewer, point at the red errors, and say your computer is badly damaged. Next they ask for money or gift cards to fix it.

Now you know the truth. Those errors are on every computer. They are not proof of a virus or damage. Microsoft does not call people out of the blue about errors on their PC.

If anyone uses Event Viewer to scare you, hang up or close the connection. If they already got into your computer, disconnect from the internet and get help from someone you trust.