Warning
Use an administrator account for these steps, and keep a recent backup before making repair or security changes.
What you will achieve
Stop guessing — filter Event Viewer to the errors that matter around the time something broke.
1) Open and filter logs
- Press Win + R, run
eventvwr.msc. - Go to Windows Logs → System.
- Use Filter Current Log for Critical and Error levels.
2) Match timestamps to incidents
Find events at the same minute as freezes, crashes, or app failures.
3) Save evidence
Use Save Filtered Log File As to keep an .evtx for escalation.