KnowledgeBase Archive

An Archive of Early Microsoft KnowledgeBase Articles

View on GitHub

Q229989: Event Viewer Does Not Sort Events by Date and Time

Article: Q229989
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): 4.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbtool
Last Modified: 10-AUG-2001

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 
- Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0, Terminal Server Edition 
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0 
- Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition version 4.0 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY
=======

The Event Viewer tool (Eventvwr.exe) appears to sort Event log messages by date
and time. These events are actually sorted by the order in which they are
written to the log file and not by the time that they are written. For example,
if an event is logged at 4/4/99 12:00:00pm and the system date is moved back to
1996, the next log entry might read 4/4/96 12:00:30pm. The second event appears
above the first in the log as this is the order in which they are reported. This
may be noticeable in scenarios similar to the following:

- When you use a time server on a computer that has a fast clock, it may appear
  that events are logged out of order, when in fact, they are logged correctly.

- When you turn off daylight savings time, events may appear out of sequence.

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbtool 
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNTWsearch kbWinNTW400 kbWinNTW400search kbWinNT400search kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTSEntSearch kbWinNTSEnt400 kbWinNTS400search kbWinNTS400 kbNTTermServ400 kbNTTermServSearch
Version           : :4.0
Issue type        : kbinfo

=============================================================================

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.