Web User - UK (2019-12-27)

64 27 Dec 2019-7Jan 2020

anyproblems.Sometimesyou’ll find

minorerrorsinWindowsand appsthat

aren’t seriousenoughtogenerate a

messageonscreen.Windowsusually

notifiesyouofseriousproblems,butit’s

stillworthcheckingthelogfilesfor

minor problems.

Clearyourlogfiles

Logfilesareusefulfortroubleshooting

yourPC,soit’sgenerallynotagood

ideatodeletethem.However,clearing

themcansometimeshelptosolve

problems.IfWindowsUpdategetsin a

muddle,forexample,youshould

removeWindowsUpdate’s logfilesto

cleanuppreviousupdateattempts.

Thebestwaytoremovethemisto

clickStartandtypediskclean-up.

Selectit inthesearchresultstorunit,

thenclick‘Cleanupsystem files’.Tick

theboxnexttoitemsdescribedas log

files,thenclickOKtodeletethem.

Simple Windowslogviewer

Windowsincludesapowerful log

viewer, butitcan be quite

complicatedandhardtounderstand.

SnakeTail (snakenest.com/snaketail)

offersasimplerwaytobrowseand

viewWindowslogs.Onthewebsite,

clicktheDownloadLatestVersionlink

and,onthe nextpage,downloadthe

‘.zip’versionofSnakeTail. Unzipthe

fileand double-clickSnakeTail.exeto

runit.Noinstallationisrequired.

ClickFile,OpenEventLogand

choosealog,suchasApplicationsor

System.SnakeTaillistsloggedevents

andletsyouseeinformation,errors

andwarnings.Selectaneventtoview

abriefdescriptionintheboxbelow.

ResearchWindowslogs

If youwanttoknowmoreabout

Windowslogfilesandtheeventsthey

describe,clicktheStartbuttonand

W

indowsandotherprograms

createlogfilestorecordvarious

activities,suchassuccessfulor

unsuccessfulupdates,changestosettings,

actionsperformedwhileyourPCisstarting

upor running,andsoon.Toseethelog

filesthatarestoredonyourPC,open

Explorer,selectdriveC:andtype*.log

intothesearchbox.Windowsscansyour

entireharddriveforlogfilesandliststhem.

Theprocesscantakeseveral minutes,so

bepatient.Whenit’s finished,settheview

toDetailsandclickthe‘Datemodified’

columnheadersothatthemostrecentlogs

appearatthetopof thelist. Logfilesaren’t

essentialsoyoucan deletethemif you’re

shortofdrivespaceoryouthinkthey’re

causingaproblem.However,theycan be

useful,soit’sbesttokeepthemif possible.

Find your logfiles

Viewyour logfiles
Mostlogfilesarestoredasplaintext,so
double-clickinga‘.log’fileinanExplorer
windowopensitinNotepad.Logfiles
areusuallystructuredwithoneentry
perline.Youcan makethemeasierto
readinNotepadbyselectingFormat
andclearing‘Wordwrap’,althoughthis
meansyou mayneedtoscroll
horizontallytoseelongentries.
Thecontentoflogfilesisoften
technicalandcanbedifficult to
understandunlessyou’reasoftware
developer. However,theysometimes
containbriefexplanationsin plain
English,whichmakesthemveryuseful
fordiagnosing problems.
Alogfilemayincludealistofactions
thatoccurredjustbeforeWindowsor a
programfailed,whichcanshedlighton

Searchfor logfiles in C: or C:\Windows,and double-click to viewthem

SnakeTail isasimple Windowslog vie wer

thatshowssystemevents

If yousee wordsthatlooklike

they’ve been typed in a

typewriter,followthe instructions

and type themexactly as they

appear,paying closeattentionto

spacesandpunctuation.

Web User Masterclass

Diagnose problems byanalysing Windows

logfiles for errorsand warnings