Windows log files are generated by the system to help with troubleshooting any potential errors, as they give detailed reports of everything the system is encountering, be it security issues or something else. The different types of log files are readable by only certain permission groups. For example, the security event log is only able to be read by the system administrator. Logs created by other applications, such as a log reporting software like HijackThis, are able to be read by all user groups.

What can I use to view these logs?

All of the various logs that Windows automatically generate may be read by the “Event Viewer” application. This program is easily accessed through the control panel. For steps on how to open this program, please continue reading:

1. Start off by clicking the “Start” button located at the bottom left of your screen.
2. After the menu opens, locate and click on “Control Panel”. This will open up the Control Panel menu in a new window.
3. On the left hand side of the menu, click on “Switch to Classic View”. If it says “Switch to Category View”, you don’t have to do anything because that means you are already in Classic view.
4. Double-click the “Administrative Tools” icon.
5. Once in the Administrative Tools folder, double-click on the “Event Viewer” icon. This will launch the Event viewer program.

Here you may view all sorts of different logs about your computer and it’s status. A few different options are as follows:

• Application
• Security
• System
• Internet Explorer

Each of these include their own data reporting and logs, and are great for seeing any potential problems your computer may be silently encountering, causing your computer to slow down. Going through your options and checking for consistency is a great way to keep your computer clean and problem free.

Another way to read the log files is by using a built-in plain text viewer, such as Wndows’ Wordpad. instructions on how to do this are as follows:

1. Start off by clicking the “Start” button located at the bottom left of your screen.
2. Now click All Program -> Accessories -> WordPad
3. After you’ve opened WordPad, click”File” located at the top-left hand side.
4. Now click “Open”
5. This will bring up a select file box. Here you will need to naviagte to the file you would like to open. Once you have located it, click on the file and open it.
6. WordPad will display the file contents. If it looks garbled at anytime, its because it wasn’t meant to be read with WordPad and it probably isn’t a system file.

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