WPR/Xperf - Steps to collect logs

 Collect X-perf logs : 

Please capture traces while the issue is happening. Please note, we would need time stamp and details of what was done while capture of trace. Also, a PSR while the trace is being captured or a recording of screen with a running Timer could be captured.

WPR capture should be started once the issue is observed, please run it for 3 – 5 minutes and stop.

X-perf is an intensive tool and collect huge amount of data. So, collecting it continuously for a long duration would cause performance issues on the machine so I don’t recommend running it more than 2-3 minutes.

If needed, you can run it for few minutes, stop it if the issue not reproduced/ or reoccurs, wait for some time and try another attempt. Follow this until you capture the trace covering the issue.

Important Note: While collecting data for performance issues, we need a detailed and clear description that explains what exactly we should analyze or which delay is noticed in the situation and when?

1.What were the symptoms observed during the time of capture of Xperf for the issue?

2.Any abnormal machine behavior observed, or alerts generated on or during the issue?

3.What components were slow?

4.For how long were the observed components slow?

5.How did the system recover?

 We need this detail with the .etl file to backtrace the issue.

=> Here is an example of collecting the details: Starting X-perf trace with Windows Performance Toolkit at the time of issue and describe what is the slowness that have been noticed with time stamps, example below:

13:48:10 X-perf started.

13:49:17 Tried opening notepad by typing notepad.exe from run

13:59:55 Notepad opened ~10 sec delay (you can note down any other component which is facing slowness)

PID of the notepad instance is 12345

 Collect X-perf logs

1.     Download the latest version of the Windows Performance Tools Kit from the link below.

Download and install the Windows ADK | Microsoft Docs . 

1.     Create an elevated command prompt window.

a.    Navigate to the Start menu, then All Programs, then Accessories.

b.    Find the Command Prompt entry in Accessories.

c.     Right mouse click on the Command Prompt item and select “Run as administrator”.

2.     In the new command prompt window, Change the path to point to the folder containing xperf.exe. Type in the following command line : 

o   cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit

·        Xperf -on Latency+DISPATCHER -stackWalk CSwitch+ReadyThread+ThreadCreate+Profile -BufferSize 64 -MaxBuffers 1024 -MaxFile 1024 -FileMode Circular

 After 2- 3 minutes, please run:

 ·       Xperf -d WaitAnalysis.etl  

 The trace file (.etl file) should be available in the same folder where the executable is present for further investigation.