System Troubleshooting
When gathering information about system difficulties, it is best to start with information provided by the Windows Event Log and System Monitor, see Windows Utilities for additional information.
Event log information is generally more straightforward to interpret than trace information; use trace information only if event logs do not provide enough details.
When you report system problems to Microsoft Customer Service and Support, a technician may ask you for trace files and other system information:
Trace files
Windows Event Logs
The current configuration file (Com.cfg)
Dump files, which may be created by Host Integration Server when a system trap (exception error) occurs
Datascope traces of protocol exchanges