A method and system are provided for remotely controlling the reporting of events occurring within a computer. A remote control file identifying the events and conditions under which the events should be reported is periodically retrieved at a client computer. When an event occurs within a client computer, the remote control file is searched for data indicating that the event should be recorded. If data is located within the remote control file indicating that the event should be reported, data describing the event is collected. The collected data then may be subsequently reported. The remote control file may also include data identifying the type of data to be collected and a date and time after which data for a particular event should not be collected or reported.