Microsoft KB Archive/172156

= How to Delete Corrupt Event Viewer Log Files =

Article ID: 172156

Article Last Modified on 2/23/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Windows XP Professional
 * Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
 * Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2002
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)

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This article was previously published under Q172156



IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry



SYMPTOMS
When you launch Windows Event Viewer, one of the following error messages may occur if one of the *.evt files is corrupt:

The handle is invalid

Dr. Watson Services.exe

Exception: Access Violation (0xc0000005), Address: 0x76e073d4

When you click OK or cancel on the Dr. Watson error message, you may also receive the following error message:

Event Viewer

Remote Procedure Call failed

The services.exe process may consume a high percentage of CPU utilization.



CAUSE
The Event Viewer Log files (Sysevent.evt, Appevent.evt, Secevent.evt) are always in use by the system, preventing the files from being deleted or renamed. The EventLog service cannot be stopped because it is required by other services, thus the files are always open. This article describes a method to rename or move these files for troubleshooting purposes.



RESOLUTION
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

NTFS Partition
 Click the Start button, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Services. Select the EventLog service and click Startup. Change the Startup Type to Disabled, and then click OK. If you are unable to log on to the computer but can access the registry remotely, you can change the Startup value in the following registry key to 0x4:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog

 Restart Windows.

NOTE: When the system starts up, several services may fail; a message informing the user to use Event Viewer to review errors may appear. Rename or move the corrupt *.evt file from the following location:

%SystemRoot%\System32\Config

 In Control Panel Services tool, re-enable the EventLog service by setting it back to the default of Automatic startup, or change the registry Startup value back to 0x2.</ol>

FAT partition (Alternative method)
<ol> Boot to a MS-DOS prompt using a DOS bootable disk.</li> Rename or move the corrupt *.evt file from the following location:

%SystemRoot%\System32\Config

</li> Remove the disk and restart Windows.</li></ol>

When Windows is restarted, the Event Log file will be recreated.

Additional query words: regedt32 evt rpc error (rpc)

Keywords: kbprb KB172156

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