Some services and applications running on a computer need to communicate with the user but do not have a graphical interface to do so.

Some services and applications running on a computer need to communicate with the user but do not have a graphical interface to do so. For these services and applications the operating system provides methods of recording the occurrence of an event. All the events in the system are logged into various event logs. The event viewer is a convenient method of examining all the events that have recently occurred, as such issues concerning the proper functioning of the system are recorded and allow problems to be solved during commissioning and maintenance cycles.

Viewing
The Windows Event Viewer allows a user to view various different Windows logs. The log of interest to the Surveillance System is the Application Log. The application log holds a historical list of information, warning and error messages related to applications running on the local computer.

From the Start menu open the Control Panel and choose the Administrative Tools. If the control panel is in category view, choose the Performance and Maintenance category, then Administrative Tools. Open the Event Viewer. Double-click the Application log.

When examining the log, note the Source column. This lists the name of the application that generated the log entry. Entries can be:

• informational, shown with an i icon
• warnings, shown with an exclamation mark icon
• severe error, shown with a stop-sign icon.

Surveillance suite software components that have warning or error log entries should be read to determine the source of the error. The system log can be useful for finding out about computer issues that might affect the surveillance suite applications indirectly, for example low disk space.

Note: If the control panel entry is missing you can enable by right-clicking the Start menu button. Choose Properties, select the Start Menu tab, click Customize then select the Advanced tab. In the Start menu items list-box locate the Control Panel entry and choose either Display as a link or Display as a menu. Click OK twice to apply the change.