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  4. setuperr.log
LogRisk: Caution

setuperr.log C:\Windows\Panther\setuperr.log

Windows Setup error log (C:\Windows\Panther): only the error lines from setupact.log, ideal for a first triage.

Updated on By AltF4 Formation

What it’s for

setuperr.log is the first file to open when a Windows installation, upgrade or deployment went wrong. Setup writes its errors to C:\Windows\Panther, while setupact.log keeps all the activity. The sorting is already done.

What it contains

  • Only the Setup error lines, with the date, the emitting component and the error code.
  • Nothing, or next to nothing, on an installation without incident.
  • The context of each error is in setupact.log, in the same place.

Risks and best practices

  • Deleting it has no effect on Windows, but erases the trace of installation errors.
  • Not every listed error is blocking: Setup tolerates some of them. Check the date and the context before drawing conclusions.
  • The file may cite machine names, accounts and paths, so review it before sending it to a third party.

Useful commands

Fenêtre de terminal
# Whole content, the file is short
Get-Content "$env:windir\Panther\setuperr.log"


# Context in setupact.log around an error code
Select-String -Path "$env:windir\Panther\setupact.log" -Pattern '0x[0-9a-f]{8}' -Context 3,1 | Select-Object -Last 10

Format

Text file. Each line starts with the date and time, followed by the level (Error), the emitting component and the message.

Rotation and archiving

The file is written during the setup phases and then kept as is. During an upgrade, logs are first written under $WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Panther.

How to read it

Note the date and code of the first error, then open setupact.log at the same time to see the action that failed. For an upgrade, SetupDiag analyzes these logs for you.

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