• Counter values consistently equal zero.
• System Monitor shows gaps in its line graphs.
• Values recorded in a log do not appear in the graph view.
• Objects, counters, or instances seem to be missing or invalid.
• I sometimes see an extremely high value for one instance and not another while I am monitoring processes of the same name.
• While monitoring several threads, if one thread stops, its data appears to be reported for another.
• An error message is displayed if I try to export log data to Microsoft Excel while the Performance Logs and Alerts service is actively collecting data to that log.
• I lost my connection to a remote computer from which I was logging data and I cannot resume logging.
• Help for System Monitor does not appear in MMC Help; only Performance Logs and Alerts is displayed.
• I cannot log performance counters from a remote computer.
• My counters used to work, but since I installed a new application they do not work. Is there a way to restore the old counter settings?

Solution:  If you stopped the process manually, restart it to see the process in System Monitor. Otherwise, check Event Viewer for concurrent entries. You may find an error associated with this process.

Cause:  The counter DLL was disabled after you selected the corresponding counters in a log or display. The performance tools will not detect that the counter was removed or disabled but will report the counter data as zeros.

Solution:  Enable the corresponding counter DLL.

Cause:  You lack the appropriate administrative credentials on the computer being monitored.

Solution:  An administrator must ensure that your user account has the appropriate administrative credentials to use the performance tools.

Solution:  Reduce the performance overhead of system monitoring.

See also:  Performance monitoring best practices

Solution:  Reduce the selected time range. For more information, see Use logged data .

Cause:  You did not add counters to the graph view.

See also:  For more information, see Add counters to System Monitor .

Solution #1:  You can enable the disabled counters. Using Registry Editor, change the value under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\Services\ Service_name\Performance\Disable Performance Counters from 1 for disable to 0 for enable. Note that counters that have been disabled after initial testing are likely to contain errors and may cause system problems. For information about debugging problems with counter DLLs, see the Microsoft Web site .

Solution #2:  You can turn off the automatic testing feature for the counter DLL or adjust the level of testing. Using Registry Editor, locate the Configuration Flags subkey under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib and change the value of the REG_DWORD entry for this subkey:

Cause:  The process that starts the object counters is not started or installed.

Solution:  Use Task Manager to verify that the process is running. If not, use Exctrlst.exe.

See also: Windows Resource Kit Tools Help .

Cause:  The counters have not been enabled.

Solution:  Make sure that the service or feature that provides the counter has been installed or configured.

Cause:  The DLL that installs the counters is generating errors. An example is possible problems with localization functions by the counter.

Solution:  Check Event Viewer to see whether the counter DLL or the Performance Data Helper reported any errors. If necessary, you can disable counter DLLs that are causing errors by using Exctrlst.exe.

See also:  Windows Resource Kit Tools Help .

Cause:  You are trying to monitor a 16-bit or MS-DOS application. Only 32-bit processes appear in the instances list. Active 16-bit processes appear as threads running in a Windows Virtual DOS Machine (NTVDM) process.

Solution:  Monitor the application through the NTVDM process.

Cause:  The instance you want to monitor is not currently active. If you are configuring System Monitor to collect real-time data, you can only select active instances for data collection. (If you are viewing logged data, you can select inactive instances for which the log contains data.) If you select the process and it stops after you've selected it, it will continue to appear in the list box but the reported data will be zeros.

Solution:  Make sure the instance is active.

Solution:   Use the instance index and track the Process\ID Process and Process\Creating Process ID counters.

Solution:  Use the instance index with Thread ID to track these threads.

Solution:  Stop the log collection using Performance Logs and Alerts before trying to use the log data with Microsoft Excel.

Solution:  If Remote Registry service stops more than once, you must restart the service manually on the second and any subsequent failures. To change this default behavior, use Computer Management or Services (on the Administrative Tools menu) to modify the properties for Remote Registry service.

Solution:  Click the Help button on the System Monitor toolbar.

Solution:  Ask the administrator of the remote computer to give you read access to the remote computer.

Cause:  You may not have the correct administrative credentials granted through Group Policy.

Solution:  Ask the administrator of the remote computer to grant you access through the following User Rights policies: Profile System Performance and Profile a Single Process.

See also:  Group Policy (pre-GPMC) .

Cause:  The Performance Logs and Alerts service may not have permission to log on to the remote computer or to create and update the log file.

Solution:  Use the Run as text box and Password button to specify the logon account name with the necessary permissions for the Performance Logs and Alerts service. You can access these features from the General tab.

Cause:  The Remote Registry service is not running on the remote computer.

Solution:  Ensure that the Remote Registry service is started on the remote computer. You need appropriate permissions on the remote computer to start the service.

Note

• You might also receive this error message if the remote computer is running Windows 95. Computer Management does not support remote access to computers that are running Windows 95.

See also:  Start, stop, pause, resume, or restart a service .

Cause:  The size limit of the log file may not be large enough to collect your requested data.

Solution:  Increase the limit of the log file size or set the file size to the maximum limit allowed.

See also:  Set parameters for a log .

Cause:  The log update interval may be too short to allow the server to respond to each periodic data request.

Solution:  Increase the log update interval.

See also:  View or change properties of a log or alert .

Solution:  Restore the performance counter registry to the state described in the uncorrupted backup file by using the following command: LODCTR /R:filename where filename is the name of the backup file of the performance counter registry entries.

Note

• To make a backup copy at any time of the performance counter registry settings, use the following command:

  LODCTR /S:filename

  where filename is any name. You can save these backup files anywhere on your computer.