How to read Windows. Event logs shut down and restart. Ever been stuck? Troubleshooting random system shutdowns or unexpected restarts. In this video we'll show you how to read, interpret, and use Windows event viewer to detect and fix the root causes. Before we begin, be sure to subscribe to Ninja One's IT Video Hub. For more tech content like this Accessing event viewer in Windows, the Windows event viewer acts as a digital archive of every action happening in your Windows system. If your system restarts crashes or runs into an error, the event viewer logs it all. Here are three quick ways to open the event viewer. Use the run dialogue by pressing the Windows key and the R type event, VWR dot msc, and press enter. Open it from PowerShell. Use the GET event log command to pull logs even from remote systems, or access it through the Windows Administrative Tools menu via the start button. Once inside the event viewer, you'll find a well organized pane with categories like application security and system logs. These categories are your starting point for pinpointing issues. How to read Windows event logs for shutdown and restart event IDs to troubleshoot, shutdown and restart issues. Here are the key event IDs to know event id 10 74 logs. Plan shutdowns, including the user reason and triggering process. Event ID 6,008 logs. Unexpected shutdowns due to something like a crash or power failure event. IDs 6,005 and 6,006 Log the beginning and completion of Clean Startups and shutdowns. Event ID 41 tracks sudden reboots caused by power loss. These IDs provide a timeline of what happened, why, and who or what caused it. If you're seeing repeated 6,008 and 41 errors, you'll know to investigate power sources or faulty hardware. What are timestamps and details in event logs? Event logs can be overwhelming, but these key details will help you make sense of it. All timestamps show exactly when the issue occurred. These are stored in UTC, but converted to your local time. Event sources indicate the Windows component responsible for the log severity levels like information warning, error, or critical. Instantly help gauge the problem's impact. For instance, if a shutdown didn't complete properly, checking the severity levels can help you pinpoint the root cause quickly. Now that you're familiar with Windows event viewer, you can use the Windows event logs to diagnose and solve system issues before they escalate. For more information, check out our official blog post on how to read Windows. Event logs. Shut down and restart linked in the description below.