Event Viewer

The Event Viewer (sometimes referred to as "Event Logs") is a storehouse of system-related occurrences that affect the computer in some way; whether the operating system, applications, users, hardware, etc. If your computer crashes, chances are very good there's an event listed in here. Reboot the computer, there's an event. The hard drive fills up, or is corrupted, there's an event. And so on. You will use this a LOT.

Oftentimes, when something goes wrong, there isn't always time to see what the error message is. The computer crashes, the web page freezes up, Outlook crashes, or whatever, and the error message appears for only a second or two, and sometime less. Most times, however, an error will be logged in the Event Viewer, and the information listed there will typically be needed to help track down what, specifically is going on.

In this case, the error message shown ("Disk 2 has been surprise removed") also shows an Event ID ("157"), source ("disk"), time/date ("8/24/2022 6:21:13 PM"), and the level ("Warning"). Other messages may show additional information, but in most cases you can then google either the Event ID or the message to find out what's going on.

   From the results I'm seeing in Google, it appears that there may be some problems with the disk, and I may need to consider replacing it at some point.

There are some caveats to keep in mind:

* Use common sense with the results you find, and ask yourself if the results make sense. There are times when very different things will cause similar search results. If you're searching for information about a user's email account and you find results talking about printers, there's likely a problem with your search terms. However, keep an open mind on this. Application issues can be caused by things that might not seem related at first.
* Keep track of which websites you find that are legitimately useful and which are just white noise. Microsoft.com, for example, has a lot of information about various Microsoft products, but oftentimes can be next to useless due to its technical nature. Much of their content assumes that you already know the product being searched for, so if you need a ten-step process to figuring out, "Why does Bob's Outlook client prompt him for a user name and password every couple minutes," you might find that the Microsoft articles on the subject all assume you already know steps 1-5.
* Quite a few websites simply copy and paste the same material that is found on other sites. If you find 10 articles that all talk about how you need to defrag your hard drive in order to fix Bob's Outlook issue, chances are pretty good that one website got it wrong and the other nine just copied their content from them. So keep looking.
* Event log information often has a shelf life. Articles that are just a few months old will usually be a lot more relevant than those that are several years old. If the article you find is five years old and if the screenshots you see don't match what you're seeing, there's a chance that the information may not be useful any more.
* Make sure you're looking in the right logs. In the very first screenshot shown, you'll see the "Administrative Events" under "Custom Views," then the "Application," "Security," "Setup," "System," and "Forwarded Events." Underneath that, you'll see the "Applications and Services Logs," with a large number of other event categories. For the most part, you'll want to be looking in the System and Application logs (usually System); however, in some instances you'll need to look at some of the other logs.