Showperf.exe: Performance Data Block Dump Utility

Performance Data Block Dump Utility is a tool with a graphical user interface (GUI) that dumps the contents of the Performance Data block so you can view and debug the raw data structure.

Note

For formatted output, see Performance Monitor 4.

ShowPerf can be used to display counters which do not show up in System Monitor. It can also be used to verify that all performance DLL's are returning the correct data.

Item	Description
Computer	Enter the name of the computer to view. The default is your local computer.
Show "Costly" Objects	Display costly objects. These objects report technical data about kernel objects, but require a comparatively high amount of overhead. "Costly" counters are usually either memory or processor intensive, and are not displayed in System Monitor. After selecting this check box, click the Refresh button to display this set of objects. See the Performance Counters Reference included in this Resource Kit for a description of individual counters for a specific object.
Object	Selecting the object type controls which instance options and performance counters are displayed.
Instance	An instance is used to distinguish between multiple performance objects of the same type on a computer. Many objects have a _Total instance which represents the sum of values for all instances of the object for the selected counter.
Counter Index	Index number used to look up the name string of the counter stored in the registry.
Counter Name	Name of the counter. See the Peformance Counters Reference included in this Resource Kit for a description of individual counters for a specific object.
Counter Type	The counter type determines how the counter data is calculated, averaged, and displayed.
Counter Data	Actual raw value of the counter returned by the registry.

Using ShowPerf to troubleshoot a bad performance counter

Run ExCtrlLst.
For each service listed in the list box, except those starting with "Perf" (such as PerfProc, PerfNet, PerfCtrs), clear the Performance Counters Enabled check box at the bottom of the dialog box.
Run ShowPerf.
You should see a list of objects and counters in the ShowPerf display.
Start enabling services in ExCtrlLst, one at a time.
Click the refresh button on ShowPerf after each one. After each refresh of ShowPerf, verify that the list of objects and counters is still valid.
Do this until you get an error.
If so, disable the last service to see if the error goes away. If it does, then leave that service's performance counters disabled until the DLL for that service is fixed.

File Required

Showperf.exe