In case it can be useful, perhaps to check a person or to prove that you were working or at home, or even to see if someone else has used the PC, you can always know if the PC has been turned on when and for how long . In a Windows PC the way to find out these details is quite simple, and we can summarize all the work to be done even in a few lines below, without wasting time in small talk and complicated procedures.
Obviously, you can not only know if the PC was on (because maybe we kept it on), but also if it was used and how it was .
With Windows 7/8/10, there is a way to find out if the computer was turned on and running on a particular day or at a specific time, via the event log .
To start the Event Viewer in Windows 7, click on the Start button, then go to the Control Panel, then in System and Security, then on Administrative Tools to find the event log.
In Windows 8 and Windows 10 you can open the Event Viewer by simply pressing the Windows - X keys together and then clicking on the Event Viewer or by pressing the letter V.
You can also open the event log via the Run dialog (to be opened by pressing the Windows + R keys together), typing eventvwr and then pressing OK.
Once you open the Event Viewer, follow these steps:
- In the left pane go to the Windows registries -> System
- A list of events that occurred during the time the PC was turned on will be displayed in the right pane.
- Click on the label (the name of the column) Event ID to sort the data according to the ID number of the events.
It is possible that the log is nice long so it may be necessary to create a filter.
- In the Actions pane on the right side, click on " Current log filter "
- Write the numbers 6005, 6006 in the field in the center without a label (where " all event IDs " is written) and press OK.
After an upload, at the top center of the page you will see only the events with numbers 6005 and 6006, that is:
Event ID 6005 means " The event log service has been started " (ie when the computer was turned on ).
Event ID 6006 means " the event log service has been stopped " (ie the time the PC was turned off ).
If desired, you can also add event ID 6013 to the filter.
This displays how long it has been on since booting.
Finally, if you want to regularly check when and how long you have turned on your PC, you can save the view for quick access.
To save it, click on create custom view at the top right, under the action menu.
The saved views can then be opened by clicking on the top left, under Custom views .
Ah sure, I forgot to say how to know what PC users were doing.
The event log is once again helpful, especially in the Applications section.
In addition, you can view recent modified files, from Windows Explorer, or even use a program that records all computer activities.
Of this, however, I had already spoken, in the article on how to check what has been done on the PC .
