Monitoring logs is a critical task for system administrators to ensure the health, security, and performance of Windows systems. This article will guide you through various methods to monitor logs on Windows, using built-in tools and commands.

Event Viewer

Event Viewer is a built-in tool in Windows that allows you to view and manage event logs. It is one of the most straightforward ways to monitor logs.

How to Access Event Viewer

1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog.
2. Type eventvwr and press Enter.

Once in Event Viewer, you can navigate through different logs such as Application, Security, and System logs.

PowerShell for Log Monitoring

PowerShell provides a powerful way to monitor logs programmatically. Below are some examples of how to use PowerShell for this purpose.

Example: Retrieving the Latest 10 System Logs

Get-EventLog -LogName System -Newest 10

Example: Monitoring Specific Event IDs

Get-EventLog -LogName Application | Where-Object { $_.EventID -eq 1000 }

Using Command Prompt

While PowerShell is more powerful, the Command Prompt also offers basic log monitoring capabilities.

Example: Viewing System Logs

wevtutil qe System /c:10 /f:text

This command retrieves the 10 most recent entries from the System log in text format.

Task Scheduler

Task Scheduler can be used to automate log monitoring tasks. You can create a task that runs a script at regular intervals to check logs and send alerts.

Example: Creating a Task to Monitor Logs

1. Open Task Scheduler (taskschd.msc).
2. Create a new task and configure it to run a PowerShell script that monitors logs.

Custom Scripts

For more advanced monitoring, you can create custom scripts to parse logs and take actions based on specific conditions.

Example: PowerShell Script to Send Email Alerts

$logs = Get-EventLog -LogName System -Newest 10
foreach ($log in $logs) {
    if ($log.EntryType -eq "Error") {
        Send-MailMessage -From "admin@example.com" -To "user@example.com" -Subject "Error Log Alert" -Body $log.Message -SmtpServer "smtp.example.com"
    }
}

Third-Party Tools

Several third-party tools can provide more advanced log monitoring features, such as:

• Splunk
• Graylog
• SolarWinds Log & Event Manager

These tools offer enhanced capabilities like real-time monitoring, advanced filtering, and alerting.