When something goes wrong in Windows without apparent reason it is good idea to check if OS itself noticed something broken. System logs are accessible with (buried deep in menus) native Event Viewer utility, but without facelift it got on Vista – it is still clunky on XP.
MyEventViewer is alternate Windows log viewer from Nirsoft that provides access to same events but in more convenient interface.
What it does
Unlike native utility MyEventViewer displays all logs (system, application, security and added with recent versions Internet Explorer) together and offers filtering by:
- log;
- event type;
- time frame.
It makes much more convenient system when troubleshooting because it is easy to hide non-error messages or those that happened before problem surfaced.
Strong features
Strong side of MyEventViewer is not powerful features (not many things you can really do with logs) but usability improvements:
- abovementioned fast and easy filtering;
- customizable set of interface columns;
- fast and clean export into HTML.
It can also connect to logs of remote computers but instead of being included in interface this function is inconveniently command-line only:
MyEventViewer.exe /remote \\MyComputerName
Overall
As long as XP still going strong this is excellent utility for troubleshooting. Tiny, freeware and completely portable. Altogether it may not be as powerful as native Event Viewer but more streamlined and easier to use.
Home&download http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/my_event_viewer.html
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From your post, I can’t really see the benefit of using this one versus the native event viewer. Is it really that much easier to use?
@Peter Owen
Depends on what exactly you do with event viewer. MyEventViewer adds some convenient additional stuff native viewer lacks – easier filtering, search, export, etc.
So if you need faster interface and additional functionality… To simply look through recent events native viewer is quite enough.
Oh and another advantage is that MyEventViewer is standalone. Native Event Viewer is MMC console. If some malware breaks MMC (and they are more and more thorough with disabling stuff that can be used to fix infection) Event Viewer is dead as well.
In the end with such close utilities – try yourself and decide if it fits your taste and common usage.