Event Viewer Logs - question

[Lisa - NH]

I went into the Event Viewer today to clear out my logs. Usually I just go
under Windows Logs and clear them out. I decided to go through everything
under Applications and Services Logs. There was a lot there.

I never pay any attention to these logs. I don't use them at all. I did
look through them before clearing and most of what I saw was just information
and I didn't really know what most of it was talking about anyway. A lot of
the times it says there's an error, I never noticed any problems. Then there
are times when I know there's a problem and it doesn't show anything.

The question is, is there a way to stop all these logs from being created in
the first place? Or is the program just a necessary evil that I will keep
ignoring? I hate using resources for things that I don't see a need to be
running.
Lisa

 

[Nonny]

The question is, is there a way to stop all these logs from being created in
the first place? Or is the program just a necessary evil that I will keep
ignoring? I hate using resources for things that I don't see a need to be
running.

You will one day be glad they are running if you have a problem.

The resources they use are MINIMAL.

 

[Lisa - NH]

You will one day be glad they are running if you have a problem.

The resources they use are MINIMAL.

I doubt it. I never used the logs when I ran XP.......or Vista on my old
computer. I have had some small problems and the logs don't help me at all.
If I have a problem and I can't fix it, I try system restore (which I haven't
had to do on this computer). I always figure if I have a bad enough of a
software related problem that it's time to format & start over again. I used
to do it about once a year with XP. Any hardware problems, we just buy new
hardware if not covered under warranty.
Lisa

 

[Nonny]

I doubt it. I never used the logs when I ran XP.......or Vista on my old
computer. I have had some small problems and the logs don't help me at all.
If I have a problem and I can't fix it, I try system restore (which I haven't
had to do on this computer). I always figure if I have a bad enough of a
software related problem that it's time to format & start over again. I used
to do it about once a year with XP. Any hardware problems, we just buy new
hardware if not covered under warranty.
Lisa

To ease your mind on the resources being used, the logs are here:

Windows\System32\winevt\logs

 

[Nonny]

To ease your mind on the resources being used, the logs are here:

Windows\System32\winevt\logs

Looks as if the largest any log will get is 1MB.

 

[Mark H]

Not exactly.
Some idiot errors that have no impact on computer functionality log
themselves in several times a second and can make these logs grow to
gargantuan size. When Vista first came out, I actually had to disable
monitoring of a non-existent drive to keep my 160 GB hard drive from filling
up every 24 hours. But, since no one else is complaining, it was obviously a
fluke, very rare and fixed with some update.

 

[Lisa - NH]

To ease your mind on the resources being used, the logs are here:

Windows\System32\winevt\logs

Thanks for the location. Right now there's hardly anything there as I
cleared them yesterday.
Lisa

 

[Lisa - NH]

Looks as if the largest any log will get is 1MB.

Just had one of those moments and realized I was looking in a different
folder. I just looked again and there are 55 files right now and they are
all 68.0 kb. I'll look at them again after some time passes.

I'm not really concerned about the space they take up. I was more concerned
about whatever process is running in the background all the time to create
these logs that I never pay any attention to.
Lisa

 

[Nonny]

I'm not really concerned about the space they take up. I was more concerned
about whatever process is running in the background all the time to create
these logs that I never pay any attention to.

Look at Services then, and see what you can do without. They take
more resources than the creation of simple log files.

http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/servicecfg.htm

Invaluable.

I have only 54 out of a possible 139 services running (129 being
native to Windows Home Basic - the other 10 are for software I
installed).

 

[Lisa - NH]

more resources than the creation of simple log files.

http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/servicecfg.htm

Invaluable.

I have only 54 out of a possible 139 services running (129 being
native to Windows Home Basic - the other 10 are for software I
installed).

Thanks for reminding me about that site. I had used it in the past with XP
and I had used it on my old computer when I upgraded it to Vista. I haven't
done much with the services since I got this computer.
Lisa