Cpu Performance Monitoring: Configuring For Optimum Usage

Performance Monitor is a tool that comes built-in with Windows and allows users to view and analyse application and hardware data to fix system performance-related problems. It can be used to monitor CPU usage and memory usage. To do this, users must first set up a data collector set, which is how Performance Monitor stores the data it collects. This can be done by clicking the Windows Start menu, searching for performance, right-clicking on Performance Monitor, and then clicking Run as administrator. From there, users can follow a series of steps to select the desired performance counters and begin collecting data.

Using Task Manager to view CPU consumption

To use Task Manager to view CPU consumption and identify the process or application causing high CPU usage, follow these steps:

• Select Start, enter "task" and select Task Manager from the search results.
• The Task Manager window will open to the Processes tab. If you see a single list of process names, you can expand any grouped processes.
• Select the CPU column header to sort the list by CPU usage, with the arrow pointing down to sort from highest to lowest consumption.
• If the process can be stopped or a related service can be disabled, do so and check if this mitigates the problem.

The Task Manager's Performance tab shows detailed information about CPU usage. You can also use the "Performance" tab to identify which apps are using the CPU the most.

If you are dealing with high-CPU usage while multitasking, closing all background programs and tabs you aren't using may help.

Using Resource Monitor to view CPU consumption

To use the Resource Monitor to view CPU consumption:

Select Start, enter resmon, and then select Resource Monitor from the search results. In the Resource Monitor window, select the CPU tab. You might have to maximise the window to see all the data.

Select the Average CPU column header to sort the list by overall CPU usage. Make sure that the arrow that appears on the header points down, to sort the data from highest to lowest CPU consumption.

If any of the processes show a higher-than-expected rate of consumption for your environment, consider these top processes first when you try to determine the cause of the problem.

The Process Explorer tool gives you a complete overview of which processes are currently running on your computer, including details about who invoked the processes, and how much of the total system resources they're consuming.

The right side of the window has a number of graphs, each depicting CPU-related performance metrics. The blue line shows the total processing power (CPU frequency) available to the system, and the green area shows the current utilisation of those available resources.

The Windows Resource Monitor CPU performance tool provides very good at-a-glance information about some important CPU-based performance metrics.

Using Perfmon to monitor CPU usage per process

Perfmon is a tool that comes built-in with Windows and allows users to monitor the performance of the system and the applications that are running on it. To monitor CPU usage per process using Perfmon, follow the steps below:

• Open the Performance Monitor.
• Right-click on the graph and select "Add Counters".
• In the "Available counters" list, open the "Process" section by clicking on the down arrow next to it.
• Select "% Processor Time" and any other relevant counters such as "% User Time", "% Privilege Time", and "% Interrupt Time".
• In the "Instances of selected object" list, select the specific process you want to track, such as "sqlserver".
• Click "Add >>" and then "OK" once you have selected all the required counters and processes.
• This will generate a graph displaying the CPU usage for the chosen application or process.

It is important to note that you can also use other tools such as Task Manager and Resource Monitor to view overall CPU consumption and identify processes or applications causing high CPU usage. Additionally, the Process Explorer tool from SysInternals provides detailed insights into running processes, including CPU usage, and allows you to create on-the-fly graphs for specific processes.

Using Performance Monitor to log CPU and memory usage

Performance Monitor is a tool that comes built-in with Windows and allows users to view and analyse application and hardware data to fix system performance-related problems. It can be used to monitor CPU and memory usage by following these steps:

Step 1: Open Performance Monitor

This can be done in three ways:

• Open Start, search for "Performance Monitor", and click the result.
• Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command, type "perfmon", and click OK.
• Use the Windows key + X keyboard shortcut to open the Power User menu, select "Computer Management", and click on "Performance".

Step 2: Add Counters to Monitor

Once Performance Monitor is open, users can add counters to monitor specific applications and hardware performance. To do this:

• Click the green plus button above the Performance Monitor graph.
• Select "Local computer" or the name of your computer from the drop-down menu.
• Select and expand the category of the item you want to monitor. For example, to monitor CPU usage, select the "Processor" category.
• Select the counters you want to monitor. Recommended counters for CPU usage include:

• Processor: % Processor Time
• Processor: % User Time
• Processor: % Privilege Time
• Processor: % Interrupt Time

• If applicable, select the instances you want to monitor. For example, if monitoring multiple processors, select each processor you want to include.
• Click "Add", then "OK" to confirm and add the new counters.

Step 3: Customise the Performance Monitor View (Optional)

Users can customise various aspects of the data shown in the graph, such as the colour, scale, width, and style. To do this:

• Double-click one of the counters to open the Performance Monitor Properties window.
• On the "Data" tab, select the counter you want to customise.
• Choose the desired customisations from the options provided.
• Repeat for each item you want to customise.

Step 4: Collect Performance Data

To collect performance data, users can create a custom Data Collector Set:

• In Performance Monitor, expand "Data Collector Sets".
• Right-click "User Defined", select "New", and click "Data Collector Set".
• Type a descriptive name for the new set.
• Select "Create manually (Advanced)".
• Select "Create data logs" and check the "Performance counter" option.
• Click "Add".
• Pick and add the performance counters you want to include.
• Configure the sample interval, which defines how often Performance Monitor will run and collect data. Shorter intervals ensure that counters log information more frequently.
• Save the set and specify a location.
• Right-click your Data Collector Set and click "Start" to begin collecting data.

Using Performance Monitor to collect performance counter log

To collect performance counter logs using the Performance Monitor on Windows, you must first set up a data collector set, which is how the Performance Monitor stores the data it collects.

Step 1: Create a new data collector set

• Click the Windows Start menu and search for "Performance".
• Right-click on "Performance Monitor" and then click "Run as administrator".
• In the left pane, click on "Data Collector Sets".
• In the right pane, right-click on "User Defined", then click "New" and select "Data Collector Set".
• Enter a name for the data collector set.
• Select "Create manually (Advanced)" and then click "Next".
• Under "Create data logs", select "Performance counter", and click "Next".

Step 2: Select performance counters

• Set the sample interval to your desired duration (for example, 30 seconds).
• Select the computer you want to record performance data for. If you are running Tableau Server on a single computer, select ". If you are running it on multiple computers, you must repeat some of the steps to gather data about each computer.
• Select performance counters from the list. For example, you can select "% Committed Bytes in Use" to monitor the percentage of virtual memory in use and the amount of memory available in megabytes.
• Double-click to select a category in the drop-down list.
• Select the performance counter or counters that you want to use.
• Under "Instances of selected object", select the process or instance that you want to collect information about.

Step 3: Save the data collector set

• Browse to the directory where you want to store the data and then click "Next".
• In the left pane of the main Performance Monitor window, select the data collector set that you created.
• In the right pane, right-click on the performance counter and then click "Properties".
• Select "Comma separated" as the log format and then click "OK".

Step 4: Run the data collector set

In the left pane, right-click on the name of the data collector set that you created and click "Start". The Windows Performance Monitor tool will start monitoring your server and storing information in the location that you specified.

Step 5: Allow Remote Access for Multiple Computers (if applicable)

• To collect data about other computers, ensure that the other computers are on the same network and do not have firewall rules that prevent access.
• Make sure that the Run As user account has permission to collect data on the remote computers. By default, Performance Monitor runs the data collector set as the SYSTEM user.
• To change the Run As user, go to the left pane of Performance Monitor, open the "Data Collector Sets" node, then the "User Defined" node.
• Right-click on the name of the data collector set and then click "Properties".
• In the "Run As" section of the "General" tab, click the "Change" button and specify a different account.

By following these steps, you can effectively use the Performance Monitor to collect performance counter logs and gain valuable insights into your computer's performance.

Frequently asked questions