How To Gather Information for Effective Troubleshooting of Performance Issues
Article ID | : | 175658 |
Last Review | : | November 1, 2006 |
Revision | : | 2.2 |
This article was previously published under Q175658
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986/EN-US/) Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
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SUMMARY
This article explains how to gather information so that Microsoft Support Professionals can troubleshoot performance problems on a computer running Windows NT. Please read all steps as you will be asked to provide information from several tools when contacting a support professional for assistance.
MORE INFORMATION
The basic tool used for troubleshooting performance issues is Performance Monitor. Follow the steps below to prepare for collecting performance information:
For specific details on creating the Performance Monitor log, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
The counters recommended in the article above will change depending on the problem that you are troubleshooting. See the "Recommended Performance Objects" section below or consult the Microsoft support professional for suggested objects to monitor.
For memory leaks:
Allow Performance Monitor to run a minimum of three days unless you have been instructed otherwise.
Do not log off of the computer where you are running Performance Monitor as this will close out Performance Monitor. Minimize Performance Monitor if preferred and if needed lock the screen on this computer.
Contact the Microsoft support professional working with you for additional information on sending the zipped file to the engineer.
Prior to Creating a Performance Monitor Log
1. | Turn off screen savers permanently.
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2. | Disable all non-essential services in the Services tool in Control Panel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
3. | For all possible disk issues, enable Diskperf.
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4. | Document Lanman Server parameters.WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
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5. | If instructed to do so by the support professional, install the SNMP service and Network Monitor Agent and Tools. This procedure will require the Windows NT compact disc or an appropriate share path. To install on Windows NT 3.51
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Creating the Performance Monitor Log
Run Performance Monitor from the following location:1. | Click Start, point to Program, and then click Administrative Tools. |
150934 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/150934/EN-US/) How to Create a Performance Monitor Log for NT Troubleshooting
In cases where the User Interface (UI) of the server in question is hanging or not responding, run Performance Monitor from another computer running Windows NT Server or Workstation. The counters recommended in the article above will change depending on the problem that you are troubleshooting. See the "Recommended Performance Objects" section below or consult the Microsoft support professional for suggested objects to monitor.
Recommended Performance Objects
If you are troubleshooting a performance issue or an issue that looks like a memory leak, the objects that Performance Monitor should log include, but are not limited to, the following:For memory leaks:
Cache
Memory
Objects
Paging file
Process
Processor
System
Terminal Services (if a Terminal Server)
For all other resource issues, add additional counters:
Memory
Objects
Paging file
Process
Processor
System
Terminal Services (if a Terminal Server)
Logical disk
NBT Connections
Network interface
Physical disk
Redirector
Server
Server work queues
Thread (do NOT capture if a terminal server)
All Terminal Server counters (if a Terminal Server)
All Protocol counters bound to network adapters
In addition, the smaller the update interval, the larger the log file, so check to make certain there is sufficient disk space available on the computer running Performance Monitor. NBT Connections
Network interface
Physical disk
Redirector
Server
Server work queues
Thread (do NOT capture if a terminal server)
All Terminal Server counters (if a Terminal Server)
All Protocol counters bound to network adapters
Allow Performance Monitor to run a minimum of three days unless you have been instructed otherwise.
Do not log off of the computer where you are running Performance Monitor as this will close out Performance Monitor. Minimize Performance Monitor if preferred and if needed lock the screen on this computer.
After Creating the Performance Monitor Log
1. | Create a Windows NT Diagnostics Report.
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2. | Save the System and Application Event Logs.
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3. | Zip the following files into one file using a compression tool.
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APPLIES TO
• | Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5 |
• | Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51 |
• | Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition |
• | Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5 |
• | Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51 |
• | Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition |
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