utility to clear event logs related to the system, application, and security

• A. Wevtutil
• B. Clear-EventLog
• C. Auditpol
• D. Cipher.exe

Answer: (A)

Working with Windows event logs from the command line. The best tool for clearing logs such as System, Application, and Security is Wevtutil because it is the built-in, purpose-built utility for managing Event Logs. It can list logs, export data, query events, and clear logs directly by their names, making it the most direct and universal option for this task. For example, you can clear specific logs with commands like wevtutil cl System or wevtutil cl Security, and similarly for Application. Keep in mind that clearing the Security log requires administrative privileges.

The PowerShell alternative, Clear-EventLog, can clear logs as well but depends on PowerShell availability and may not be as universally reliable across all Windows versions. Auditpol is used to configure audit policies, not to clear logs, and Cipher.exe is for encrypting and decrypting data, not for log management.