1. A method for configuring a computer system to support autonomic problem determination based on system configuration information, comprising: periodically monitoring configuration files to determine changes to each of the files; generating and storing common base events based upon changes in configuration information of hardware elements of said computer system, said changes reflected in said configuration files; storing symptom rules associated with configuration information in a symptom database; searching the symptom database to match said stored problem cases with said stored common base events; and outputting a predicted problem based on said common base events prior to occurrence of a failure in said system.