The Windows Event Viewer

For Windows Users

The Windows Event Viewer is a built-in tool that you use to view event logs. Event logs are constantly updated with detailed entries about what’s going on with your computer.

Scenario

Let’s say I walk up to my desktop computer, wiggle the mouse, and find a flashing cursor on the screen. After waiting for a minute, I decide that it’s going nowhere. I hold the power button on the computer until it shuts off, then power it back on. Ah, now I’m back in business. The computer boots up, and I’m able to use it normally. I’m almost certain to find events that were logged around the time of my flashing cursor.

A Real Event

Here, we see a Kernel-Power event logged around the time of the problem.

The details of this event state, “The last sleep transition was unsuccessful. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, failed, or lost power during the sleep transition.”

Many errors seem cryptic and not very useful, but this one really pinpoints the symptom. The key is that my computer was attempting to come out of sleep mode, and had a problem. The problem could still take some effort to track down, but I now have enough information to begin searching for solutions. Possible fixes can be an updated display driver, a bios update for the motherboard, or a Windows Update. Some have fixed this exact issue by disabling the Fast Startup option in the power settings. Others may choose to simply turn off Sleep mode.

I found the above event in the System section of the viewer. Other types of issues, like software problems, are logged in the Application section. The same idea applies though. If a program is crashing, or displaying an error, there’s a chance that the Application section of the Event Viewer will have good information. Don’t stop looking when you find the event coinciding with the time of the issue. There could be pertinent events that occur prior to the moment of trouble. These events may be key in helping you find the fix and not just the symptom.

You can read the Event Viewer wiki page for more in-depth information.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_Viewer

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