Windows Event Log service won’t start – how to figure out cause

windows 7windows-service

Windows Event Log service will not start, it says "Error 2: The system cannot find the file specified." I've tried sfc /scannow and it reported zero issues. All other services start up fine, so svchost.exe isn't the issue. I'm guessing there is some permission or path issue or missing file, but I don't what I should do to find out where it is failing. Is process explorer useful in this situation? If so, what do I watch for?

Windows error

EDIT

After watching what failed using Process Monitor, the "fix" for my particular situation was to create a registry key at
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\services\eventlog\Parameters\ServiceDll containing the same value as the key HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\services\eventlog\ServiceDll

I'm a big fan of mysterious windows self-reconfigurations.

Best Answer

Process Monitor would be more useful than Process Explorer. You would filter on only the executable that is used by the service. I don't have a Win7 box in front of me, so I can't check what that is.

Run it, try to start the service, and see what fails.

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