Lesson 21: Monitoring
System Performance
MOAC 70-687: Configuring Windows 8.1
Overview
• Exam Objective 6.3: Monitor system
performance
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Configure and analyze event logs
Configure event subscriptions
Configure Task Manager
Monitor system resources
Optimize networking performance
Configure indexing options
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Monitoring and Diagnosing
Performance
Lesson 21: Monitoring System Performance
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Using Event Viewer
• Beginning in Windows Vista, the Event Viewer
console has been enhanced to provide easier
access to a more comprehensive array of
event logs.
• A log is a list of events, which can track the
activity of the software, document errors, and
provide analytical information to administrators.
• Windows has maintained the same three basic
logs throughout several versions: a System log, a
Security log, and an Application log.
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Launching the Event
Viewer Console
• As with all MMC snap-ins, you can launch the
Event Viewer console in a variety of ways,
including the following:
o WinKey + w > search for ev and then select View
Event Logs
o Start Screen > type View Event Logs
• Note the View Event Logs is a Settings result
o Start Screen > type MMC and then add the Event
Viewer snap-in.
o Start Screen > Control Panel > System and Security >
Administrative Tools > Event Viewer
o Start Screen > type eventvwr.exe
o Open the Computer Management console and then
expand the Event Viewer node
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Using the Overview and
Summary Display
• When the Event Viewer console appears, you
see the Overview and Summary display.
• When you double-click one of the event IDs,
the console creates a filtered custom view that
displays only the events having that ID.
• The Summary of Administrative Events displays
the total number of events recorded in the last
hour, day, and week, sorted by event type. This
panel serves as a source for a quick diagnostic
or performance check of your system health.
When you expand an event type, the list is
broken down by event ID.
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Using the Overview and Summary
Display
The Overview and Summary screen in the Event Viewer
console
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Viewing Windows Logs
• When you expand the Windows Logs folder,
you see the following logs:
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Application
Security
Setup
System
Forwarded Events
• Selecting one of the logs causes a list of the
events it contains to appear in the details
pane, in reverse chronological order.
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Viewing Windows Logs
Contents of a log in the Event Viewer console
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Viewing Component Logs
• The Event Viewer console comes preconfigured
with a large collection of component logs for
Windows 8.1.
• The events in the component logs are:
o Admin – Information, warning, error, and critical event
status.
o Operational – Operational status and configuration
issues that might lead to problem cause
identification.
o Analytical and Debug – These component logs are
intended more for use in troubleshooting long-term
problems and for software developers seeking
debugging information.
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Viewing Component Logs
Windows component logs in the Event Viewer console
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Scheduling a Task to Run
in Response to an Event
• Event Viewer offers the opportunity to associate
an event with the Task Scheduler. Navigate to
the Event Viewer log, which contains an event
that you want to monitor. Select the event and
right-click to Attach Task to This Event.
• Identify the event source by providing the Log
File, Source, and Event ID. You can then
associate one of three Actions with the event:
o Start a Program
o Send an e-mail
o Display a Message
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Creating Custom Views
• A custom view is essentially a filtered version
of a particular log, configured to display
only certain events.
• The Event Viewer console now has a
Custom Views folder in which you can
create filtered views and save them for later
use.
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Create a Custom View
The Create Custom View dialog box
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Subscribing to Events
• The Windows 8.1 Event Viewer console
provides a better solution for enterprise
administrators in the form of subscriptions.
• Subscriptions enable administrators to
receive events from other computers (called
sources) in the Event Viewer console on their
own computers (called collectors).
• Windows Eventing supports two types of
subscriptions, as follows:
o Source computer initiated
o Collector initiated
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Subscribing to Events
The Event Viewer snap-in
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Create an Event Subscription
The Subscription Properties dialog box
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Using PowerShell 4.0 to
Enumerate Event Logs
• Launch PowerShell 4.0 from the Start Screen.
• A simple PowerShell script to view Event
Viewer logs follows:
Clear-Host
Get-WinEvent –Listlog * | Format-Table
LogName
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View and Run the Windows
Experience Index Assessment
Performance Information and Tools panel
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Using the Performance
Monitor Console
• Like Event Viewer, the Performance Monitor
console is an MMC snap-in that you can launch
in a variety of ways, including the following:
o On the Start Screen, type Control Panel. Select
Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative
Tools > Performance Monitor.
o On the Start Screen, type MMC. Add the
Performance Monitor snap-in.
o On the Start Screen, type Perfmon. Select the
Perfmon.exe tile.
o Open the Computer Management console by rightclicking on Computer either within Windows Explorer
or from the Start Screen, and then selecting
Performance.
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Adding Counters
• To add counters to the Performance Monitor
display, click the Add button in the toolbar, or
press Ctrl+I to display the Add Counters dialog
box.
• In this dialog box, specify the following four
pieces of information to add a counter to the
display:
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Computer
Performance object
Performance counter
Instance
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Modifying the Graph
View
• Once you select multiple performance objects
and add them to the active Performance
Monitor, the tool will display a real-time graph.
• The legend beneath the Performance Monitor
graph specifies the line color for the counter,
the scale of values for the counter, and other
identifying information.
• When you select a counter in the legend, its
current values appear in numerical form at the
bottom of the graph. Click the Highlight button
in the toolbar (or press Ctrl+H) to change the
selected counter to a broad line that is easier to
distinguish in the graph.
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Modifying the Graph View
Performance Monitor real-time display
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Using Other Views
• In addition to the line graph, Performance
Monitor has two other views of the same
data: a histogram view and a report view.
• You can change the display to one of these
views by clicking the Change Graph Type
toolbar button.
• You can also use Ctrl+G to scroll through the
three report views.
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Using Other Views
The Performance Monitor histogram view
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Using Other Views
The Performance Monitor report view
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Creating Data Collector
Sets
• To capture counter statistics in the Performance
Monitor console for later review, you must create a
data collector set.
• Once you capture data using the collector set, you
can display the data by double-clicking the
Performance Monitor file in the folder you specified
during its creation. This opens a Performance
Monitor window containing a graph of the
collected data instead of real-time activity.
• You can also choose to look at formatted report
generated by an analysis of the results, or the folder
containing all of the XML components generating
during the report generation period.
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Creating Data Collector Sets
Performance Monitor information collected using a
data collector set
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Creating a System
Diagnostics Report
• The System Diagnostic and System Performance
collector set can be found by expanding the
Data Collector Sets\System node, selecting a
report, and then clicking the Start button in the
toolbar.
• After allowing the program about 60 seconds to
gather data, browse to the
Reports\System\System Diagnostics node to
view the report.
• The same View options exist for pre-configured
reports as for user-generated collector sets.
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Using Reliability Monitor
• Reliability Monitor is a stability-tracking tool
that extends the capabilities of the Event
Viewer and Windows Experience Index
enhancing both baseline comparison and
problem resolution.
• The Reliability Monitor can be launched
several ways:
o From the Start Screen, type Reliability Monitor.
o From the Start Screen open Control Panel >
System and Security > Action Center >
Maintenance > View Reliability History.
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Using Reliability Monitor
The Reliability Monitor window
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Reliability Access Component
Agent (RACAgent)
• Reliability Monitor gathers information using
a hidden scheduled task called RACAgent.
• The agent collects data from the event logs
every hour and updates the Reliability
Monitor display every 24 hours.
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Reliability Access Component
Agent (RACAgent) (cont.)
• The stability index is a number from 0 to 10
(with 0 representing the least and 10 the
most stability) that is calculated using
information about the following types of
events:
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Software (Un)Installs
Application Failures
Hardware Failures
Windows Failures
Miscellaneous Failures
System Clock Changes
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Managing Performance
Lesson 21: Monitoring System Performance
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Working with Processes
• Microsoft provides a variety of tools that simplify
configuration identification, modification, or
automated correction.
• Task Manager remains the most prominent
process analysis tool.
• One of the challenges historically associated
with use of the Task Manager has been the
ability to identify process relationships called
process trees.
• The revised layout and presentation of Task
Manager now groups processes together
according to the process tree of which they are
a member.
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Using Task Manager
• To access Task Manager, use one of the
following procedures:
o Press CTL+ALT+DEL and select Task Manager from
the list of available options.
o On the Windows desktop, you can right-click the
taskbar when on the desktop and select Task
manager.
o On the Start Screen, type Taskmgr, although only
ta are actually required to raise the Task
Manager tile.
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Using Windows Task
Manager
• The enhanced Windows Task manager has
some useful tabs:
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Processes
Performance
App History
Startup
Users
Details
Services
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Using Windows Task Manager
Process
grouping
Processes
within that
grouping
The Processes tab
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Using Windows Task Manager
The Performance tab
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Using Windows Task Manager
The App History tab
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Using Windows Task Manager
The Startup tab
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Using Windows Task Manager
The Users tab
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Using Resource Monitor
The Resource Monitor can be launched
several ways:
o From within Task Manager, select the
Performance tab, click the Open Resource
Monitor link at the bottom of the panel.
o From the Start Screen, open Control Panel >
System and Security > Administrative Tools >
Resource Monitor.
o On the Start Screen or within the Search box,
type perfmon.exe /res and select the tile.
o From the Comprehensive list of performance
tools discussed previously in this chapter.
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Using Resource Monitor
• When you click the Resource Monitor button
on the Task Manager’s Performance tab,
the Resource Monitor window appears,
displaying a more comprehensive
breakdown of process and performance
statistics.
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Using Resource Monitor
The Resource Monitor window
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Viewing System
Configuration Details
• When you start the System Configuration tool, you
see the General tab, in which you can temporarily
set the system’s default startup sequence to a
diagnostic or selective mode.
• The Boot tab enables you to manage the boot
mode for the system, including selection of
alternate boot partitions on a multi-boot system,
and the various Windows RE and Safe Mode boot
options typically access through the F8 key.
• The Tools tab provides another comprehensive list of
system management tools to aid system
administrators more efficiently manage system
performance.
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Viewing System Configuration
Details
The Boot tab in the System Configuration tool
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Adjusting Performance
Settings
• You can navigate to the Performance
Options dialog box in several ways, all of
which require elevated privilege:
o On the Start Screen, type Adjust Visual, and then
select Adjust the appearance and performance
of Windows.
o Open the System Properties sheet and, on the
Advanced tab, in the Performance box, click
Settings.
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Adjusting Performance Settings
The Performance Options dialog box
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Configuring Index
Settings
• The Indexing Options panel enables you to
modify indexed locations, and to launch an
automated troubleshooter by selecting the
Troubleshoot search and indexing link.
• The Advanced Options button launches a subpanel. Advanced options include:
o The ability to index encrypted files, although only
when they are opened by the file owner or an
account with equivalent permissions and access to
the file encryption key (FEK).
o Treating similar words with diacritics as similar words.
o Delete and rebuild the index.
o Relocate the index file.
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Configuring Index Settings
The Indexing Options panel
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Configuring Index Settings
Advanced options
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Troubleshooting
Windows 8.1
Lesson 21: Monitoring System Performance
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Using the Windows
Memory Diagnostic Tool
To launch the Memory Diagnostic:
• On the Start Screen, type memory and from
the Settings search results, select Diagnose
your computer’s memory problems.
• Select Control Panel > System and Security >
Administrative Tools > Windows Memory
Diagnostic.
• Select the Memory Diagnostic after booting
into the Windows 8.1 Recovery environment.
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Using the Windows
Network Diagnostic Tool
• The Windows 8.1 Network Diagnostics tool
automatically launches if network
connectivity issues are encountered during
system operation.
• You can click on the red “X” that appears
on broken network connections or network
connected drives to launch the tool.
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Using the Windows
Network Diagnostic Tool
• You can manually launch the tool to run
diagnostics at any time:
o From the Start Screen, select Control Panel >
Network and Internet > Network and Sharing
Center > Troubleshoot Problems.
o From the Start Screen, type Internet Connection
and then from the Settings search results, select
Find and fix networking and connection
problems. The Internet Connections diagnostic
Wizard appears.
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Using the Windows Network
Diagnostic Tool
The Windows Network Diagnostic Tool
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Viewing Problem Reports
• The Action Center panel can be accessed:
o By selecting the Action Center pennant from the
taskbar on the Desktop
o From the Start Screen, by typing and selecting
Action Center.
o From Control Panel > System and Security >
Action Center.
• From the Action Center panel, you can:
o Select View Performance Information
o Select Troubleshooting
o Select View Archived Messages
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Viewing Problem Reports
The Action Center panel
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Lesson Summary
• Windows uses a graphical application called Event Viewer to
display the log information gathered by the operating system.
• The Performance Monitor enables you to view real-time,
detailed system information, filter the information for problem
isolation, or capture the data for later analysis. Performance
Monitor provides line graphs, histograms, or interpretive reports
to aid in results analysis.
• Reliability Monitor automatically tracks events that can have a
negative effect on system stability and uses them to calculate
a stability index.
• The Task Manager provides both aggregate and detailed
views for processes, process sets, hardware, software, and
network resources.
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Lesson Summary
• Resource Monitor expands Task Manager capabilities by
providing more detailed analysis and graphics for CPU,
Memory, Disk, and Network operations.
• Windows 8.1 provides a comprehensive set of informational
and configuration tools including advanced system
information (MSInfo32.exe), and startup configuration details
(MSConfig.exe) available to the standard user.
• To aid with overall Windows 8.1 system performance, specific
visual performance, virtual memory, indexing, and power
settings.
• Windows 8.1 provides enhanced diagnostic, repair and
reporting tools including the Windows Memory Diagnostic,
Windows Network Diagnostic, and Problem Reporting and
Solutions tool sets.
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