Finding Another Path to Reliability Monitor
File this post under “Windows Weirdnesses,” if you like. In the wake of a recent Cumulative Update, I’ve been unable to invoke the Reliability Monitor in my usual way on one of my Win10 production PCs. Until that release came along, I simply typed “Reli” into the search box, and “View reliability history” popped up in my selection menu. But last week, if found myself finding another path to Reliability Monitor because I saw this instead:
The error message is mysterious, but the real clue is in the top line where the string “Start10Ctrlpnl” appears. It’s not Windows, it’s my menu replacement program: Stardock’s otherwise excellent Start10 is the culprit!
[Click image for full-sized view.]
What Has Me Finding Another Path to Reliability Monitor? Start10!
Turns out that this is related to specific URI (Uniform Resource Identifiers) that Windows 10 uses as shortcuts to access specific system functions. With the release of 1803, MS changed some of these assignments. There’s a pretty complete list in a TenForums thread entitled “Settings Pages List of URI Shortcuts in Windows 10 Customization” (2/27/2017). These won’t work properly until Stardock (the maker of Start 10) fixes discrepancies. It’s been six months now, so I’m no longer holding my breath on this.
I’m looking for alternatives instead. My current favorite is to call Reliability Monitor through the built-in Performance Monitor tool. Thus, if you type “perfmon /rel” into the search box on PCs with Start10 installed, you’ll get the desired result. Please note that if your fingers, like mine, want to type “perfmon /reli” instead, this won’t work. How do I know? My fingers did it by force of habit and an error message that reads “The parameter is incorrect.” pops up, instead of the Reliability Monitor.
A longer path to Reliability monitor is also available, for those more inclined to click on stuff, rather than typing text into a search box. Here’s the click sequence: Control Panel → Security and Maintenance → Maintenance → View reliability history. I’m nowhere near patient enough to take that path myself. But hey! If that’s your thing, there it is.
Remember: Windows 10 ALWAYS Offers Many Launch Paths
The key here is to remember that if one launch technique in Win10 quits working, there are always other ways to get there from here. For me, the string “perfmon /rel” is my new go-to. This may work for you, or it may not, but there is always more than one way to launch the tool and read its tea leaves. Hopefully, you can find one that works for you, too.