Chapter 4
Monitoring Windows
IN THIS CHAPTER
Working with Event Viewer
Using event logs to troubleshoot problems
Tracking reliability over time
Windows 11 ships with an array of tools designed to help you look at your system and warn you if something’s wrong. In this chapter, I talk about two of them: Event Viewer and Reliability Monitor. The purpose of Event Viewer is to collect all Windows logs into one place, so that you can find them when you need them, while Reliability Monitor gives you a visual perspective of what’s wrong with your Windows 11 computer or device.
Both Event Viewer and Reliability Monitor are designed for support technicians rather than end users. Because the information these tools present is complex and hard to interpret, scammers often use them to trick people into paying for expensive “tech support from Microsoft” that they don't need. However, you may sometimes find these tools useful for troubleshooting Windows. In this chapter, I provide a brief overview of both and share why and how you should use them.
Viewing Events
Every Windows user needs to know about Event Viewer, if only to protect themselves from scammers and con artists who make big bucks ...