Jon Morisi shows how to use the default trace:
Often times while troubleshooting an issue, you’ll want more details than what you can find in the application log or SQL Log. In the background, SQL Server runs a default trace which includes a lot of items to help with troubleshooting including (but not limited to) errors, warnings, and audit data. I often run the following script as a quick way to find additional details for “ERROR” items from the default trace.
Jon notes that the default trace has been put on the deprecation list, so keep that in mind if you do use it.