14 DAY TRIAL // When it comes to finding the cause for irregular system activity, not all users know that Windows creates a log for every event and makes available the necessary tools for viewing them.
However, making your way through the Event Viewer and narrowing the results to get to the information you want is not quite an easy task. In fact, even seasoned users have a hard time with this.
EventLog Inspector is a free tool, but only for non-commercial use, designed as a simple solution for generating custom reports in a manner that entails little effort. If you plan on using it in the company, a license is $49/38 EUR (VAT not included).
The application relies on the intel captured by the operating system but adds options of its own to make accessing the details in a more convenient way.
Installing it is no tough task, as the process takes you through the regular routine of accepting the license agreement or setting the application folder. The offer to create a desktop icon for launching it more easily is not present among these steps, though.
The interface is simple, with no bells and whistles, exactly what a computer professional requires. Menus are arranged in tabs in the upper part of the screen.
In our case, EventLog Inspector did not have the service running by default and the startup type was set to “manual.” In this state, the information cannot be pulled in and displayed graphically in the statistics screen.
As soon as the service is started, the details pipe in and the graphical view of system events from the past 14 days is compiled in a graphic. It includes errors, warnings, info and audit (the same event types in Windows Event Viewer snap-in). You can shorten the length of time to as recent as the last 30 minutes.
The main application window also informs of the last time and date a report was generated, along with the state of the forwarding components (syslog and email). These are not enabled by default as they need to be configured first.
The second tab shows a list of the event logs that can be shown and allows you to generate a custom report or to launch Windows’ Event Viewer and find the information there.
Creating a custom log, though, allows more control over the information compiled in the result. This can be configured to include only specific system logs from a user-defined time frame.
The report is saved as an HTML and comprises comprehensive details, allowing you to narrow the entries to specific events such as errors, warning or typical information.
EventLog Inspector is not designed with the average or beginner user in mind, and this shows when it comes to configuring it. Apart from the regular options that make it start with the operating system, minimizing it to system tray or defining only specific events to be logged, the application includes settings for making the job easier for system administrators.
It can forward all reports to a syslog server or create rules to include only more important ones. Furthermore, it can include events that occurred when EventLog Inspector was not active.
Moreover, critical messages can be sent to an email address; the options in this case include creating a template with custom subject, header and footer.
The application can also generate periodical reports automatically and store them locally.
Real-time notifications are also part of the configuration as the program can issue popups for any events occurring on the system.
Working with EventLog Inspector is far from being a tough job, but it is not a tool for beginners since it delivers the same information captured by the built-in Event Viewer; and it is exactly these details that require a knowledgeable user to interpret and act to eliminate the cause for errors.
Nevertheless, it may come in handy when critical events such as application and even OS crashes or some hardware does not function within normal parameters; it is flexible enough to allow generation of custom reports and sending them to a server or to an email address.
The Good
You have control over the time-span of the reports and the areas they should cover.
