How to use Windows 10’s Reliability Monitor to fix and fine-tune your PC | PCWorld: Ed Tittel | @@EdTittel
Oct 29, 2015 6:47 AM
Kim Lindros
Reliability Monitor is a built-in part of Windows that’s been around since the introduction of Windows Vista back in January 2007. It’s always been a somewhat hidden feature of the Windows operating system, and therefore easy for users and admins alike to overlook. Nevertheless, it’s a great tool that provides all kinds of interesting insight into system history and stability (see Figure 1). Reliability Monitor is particularly useful when troubleshooting glitchy systems, and can provide insights into possible causes as well as important clues to fixing things.
Understanding Reliability Monitor
Reliability Monitor is part and parcel of the Reliability & Performance Monitor snap-in for the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). That said, Reliability Monitor comes pre-defined with all modern Windows versions, so there’s no need to launch MMC, and then to start adding and configuring snap-ins to make Reliability Monitor work.
Instead, Reliability Monitor taps into the Windows Event Manager to elicit data about your system, with a focus on events that impact reliability, as well as performance counters and configuration data. Reliability monitor tracks five different categories of information, namely:
Application failures: Tracks application failures or errors (e.g., “MS Outlook … stopped working”)
Windows failures: Tracks OS failures or errors (e.g., “Windows hardware error”)
Miscellaneous failures: Tracks other failures or errors, typically peripherals (e.g., “Disk failure”)
Warnings: Tracks failures or errors that don’t necessary impact system behavior (e.g., “Unsuccessful driver installation”)
Information: Tracks system changes and updates (e.g., “Successful Windows Update” and “Successful driver installation”)
