Process Monitor Logging: A Powerful Tool for Troubleshooting and Diagnostics

Process Monitor, also known as ProcMon, is a combination of two older Sysinternals utilities, Filemon and Regmon. This powerful monitoring tool allows users to track live file, Registry, and process/thread activity on their Windows systems. As a valuable skill for any Windows professional, mastering Process Monitor and other tools in the Windows Sysinternals suite can help showcase troubleshooting and diagnostic skills.

In this tutorial, we will explore how to use Process Monitor logging to troubleshoot issues on a Windows system. We will start by learning how to start and filter ProcMon, then move on to finding changed values, enabling boot logging, and running ProcMon against a remote machine.

Starting and Filtering ProcMon

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To start Process Monitor, simply open the tool from your Start menu or run it from the command line. Once opened, you can start capturing data by clicking the 'Start' button in the top left corner of the window.

Filtering ProcMon's output is an essential step in quickly identifying relevant information. You can filter based on various criteria such as file names, paths, processes, and more. To apply a filter, click on the 'Filter' menu at the top of the window and select your desired criteria.

Finding Changed Values

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One of the most powerful features of Process Monitor is its ability to track changed values in the Registry and file system. By analyzing these changes, you can identify issues that may be causing problems with your Windows system.

To find changed values in ProcMon, simply navigate to the 'Events' tab and scroll through the list of events. Look for any events that indicate a change has been made to a file or Registry value. You can then use this information to troubleshoot issues related to those changes.

Enabling Boot Logging

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Another valuable feature of Process Monitor is its ability to capture boot logging information. This allows you to track system events and changes that occur during the boot process.

To enable boot logging, simply navigate to the 'Options' menu at the top of the window and select 'Boot Logging'. From here, you can choose to capture log data from the current session or specify a custom log file location.

Running ProcMon Against a Remote Machine

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Process Monitor is not limited to local system monitoring. You can also use it to monitor remote machines on your network. To do this, simply open ProcMon and connect to the remote machine by clicking on the 'File' menu and selecting 'Connect'.

Once connected, you can start capturing data just like you would with a local system. This allows you to troubleshoot issues remotely or monitor system activity on multiple machines simultaneously.

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Process Monitor logging is a powerful tool for troubleshooting and diagnostics in Windows. By mastering ProcMon and other tools in the Windows Sysinternals suite, you can demonstrate your skills as a Windows professional and improve your ability to quickly identify and resolve issues. With its powerful filtering capabilities, changed value tracking, boot logging features, and remote monitoring options, Process Monitor is an essential tool for any Windows administrator or developer.

Process monitor logging