Just to say a trivial thing, if a computer makes a mistake it means that there is a very precise technical error due to human action therefore, even when a Windows PC has problems and frequent errors occur or if it crashes, there is always a precise reason and it is not accidental or due to bad luck. The problem, however, is finding the cause and origin of the error in order to correct it and this on a Windows system is certainly not easy because the reports of problems are always poorly described, unclear and often mysterious.
One of the most used solutions to repair a Windows PC, even among professional systems engineers, is to restart the system.
Simple problems can be solved with a click using portable tools to repair Windows.
One more step, as written in another post, can be done by restarting the PC in safe mode and, using the MS Config utility, trying to isolate the software and files that are loaded at startup to find the person responsible for the error .
READ ALSO: How to use Windows troubleshooting tools
In this article, however, we try to see how it is possible not to go by chance and how we can actually recognize the real causes of an error from the event log, trying to document itself and then try to correct it or, possibly, to communicate with a system engineer without being caught like ignoramuses ready to be screwed money for something that resolves in 5 minutes.
To diagnose the disease and cure it, the first thing to do, both when there are application and program errors, and when the PC goes haywire or crashes and freezes or restarts on its own, is to read the event viewer .
An event, as described by Microsoft, is something that happened on the computer, on the system or in a program, which must be brought to the user's attention.
An event is not necessarily an error, it can be an action performed on the computer by a third party, a simple performance notice or the notification of a change of permits.
The event log (Event Viewer) however is the Windows log and everything that happens on the computer, in terms of security, for each program and for the internal operating system, is recorded in chronological order.
If you were able to read the event viewer correctly (which nobody can do, not even Microsoft), you could always find the exact source of an error to diagnose a problem and to prevent future errors.
Event Viewer has been part of the Windows operating system since early versions of Windows NT and has only been modernized in Windows Vista and Windows 7.
To see the event log in Windows 10 and Windows 7 go to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Administrative Tools -> Event Viewer .
Without external programs, in Windows 7 the event log is organized into a calendar in reliability monitoring .
You can read the event log in a more understandable way by downloading the My Event Viewer program.
This event log is basically divided into three main sections: applications, security and the system log .
Additional logs can be created by other programs, such as antivirus, Micorosft Office and Internet Explorer.
On Vista there is also a section dedicated to installations.
In the part dedicated to the applications there are the records inserted by the programs.
In Security, violations of permissions, file sharing and access of each user on the computer are recorded.
This log is disabled by default, and only a user with administrator privileges can view the log.
In the system log, there are events related to the failure to load some system files such as startup errors (such as a wrong driver), services that do not start and hardware resource crashes (a blocked webcam).
How to read this Event Log ">
To see the detail of the message, double click on the row of an event.
To copy and paste, on Windows XP, you have to press the key of the two sheets while on Vista and Windows 7 there is the COPY key.
The problem is that the description of the event or error is in English and, even if translated correctly, it is often very obscure even for expert people .
There is always a link that reports to Microsoft support and which is used to send the error but most of the time, indeed always, it cannot provide a solution and will serve no purpose.
The most important thing then is the event ID which would be the column with a number.
Fortunately, the number is not random and is the same for every type of error that occurs on any Windows computer in the world.
It is used by troubleshooting support services so it is the key to finding solutions.
The event ID may change over time with the installation of service packs and new patches.
An example of Event ID that we have already encountered in this blog is the number 4226 which refers to the limit of simultaneous TCP / IP connections in case you download to p2p (in the article we talk about how to raise the limit of these simultaneous connections with a patch)
For do-it-yourself solutions, the event ID is the one to be entered on Google in order to search for information and experiences that lead to correct the error.
However, the most important site where you can search for details on events using the ID number is called EventID.net which is a rich database of recorded events.
The site is an archive of about 10, 496 events and 497 different sources behind which there are many expert people who contribute to enriching the information.
Most solutions to fix Windows errors are provided by other users and their experience.
For professional systems analysts, it may be advisable to pay for a subscription which provides greater and more convenient features, if instead you only go there for your home or work computer, it is not absolutely necessary.
If all is well, this site, by inserting the event ID occurred and read in the log, you should find information about it, advice for resolution and not to appear again and, sometimes, a link to the Microsoft site with the official correction.
As mentioned before, if it is a problem that does not bother, you can probably live together while if the problem were serious and you thought of calling a technician, studying for a moment your situation and events, even if we are absolutely ignorant of computer science, puts us in a position to show ourselves good and informed, without taking the risk of being fooled.
Finally, I remember that the cause of a problem or an error on Windows can be :
- A Hardware incompatibility often reported by a blue crash screen (See article on how to interpret serious errors with the blue screen).
- A driver and instability problem.
- Problems with registry keys
- Problems of infections with viruses and malware of any kind (see here the best antivirus and antimalware)
- Application and program bugs
- User interventions that attempting to use automatic programs to customize the system such as the best Tweaks for Windows 10 or Windows 7, change settings incorrectly.
