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I need a comprehensive and complex set of performance counters in windows performance monitor. At this point every time that I use performance monitor, I have to add the counters, one by one. Is there any way to save the counter set and load it at the later use? Thank you,

Allan Xu
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2 Answers2

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A colleague figured out how to achieve this. Instead of launching Performance Monitor directly:

  1. Launch the Microsoft Management Console (mmc.exe)
  2. File -> Add/Remove Snap-ins
  3. Select Performance Monitor, select Add >, select OK.
  4. Add your desired Counters as usual
  5. File -> Save As...

The resulting .msc file will allow you to restore the Performance Monitor with your saved Counters!

ScottWelker
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RichardM
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  • Yes, it works. Thank you very much. As simple as it looks, this is such a tricky and helpful solution. Thank you @RichardM – Allan Xu Nov 12 '14 at 23:13
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    Also, if you forget about this method until after you've opened perfmon (like me): don't worry -- you can quickly migrate from an existing window. Select all counters, select 'copy properties' and then in the new window (launched from MMC) select 'paste counter list'. – Dan Esparza Dec 30 '16 at 16:10
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    Don't ever change, Microsoft, you crazy bastards. – Warren P Feb 07 '18 at 07:25
  • Paste counter list is not working for me though. – Warren P Feb 07 '18 at 07:25
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    This is the best answer, esp for Windows 10. I was unable to copy/paste the counters in Win10 (it did work in Win7). While you can open the saved HTM file with IE, that method no longer works in Win10 (counters were all zero, didn't collect data). I ended up following the instructions above and recreating my counters. – ripvlan Sep 17 '18 at 18:53
  • Could elaborate on step 4? Where should they be added? @ScottWelker – dmeu Aug 14 '19 at 11:33
  • @dmeu, In the Performance Monitor (PerfMon) UI. This just means carry on as usual, in PerfMon. Add the counters that are of interest to you. – ScottWelker Aug 14 '19 at 18:37
  • When I tried this in Win2019, it includes all instances of each object, so it warns me that only 1024 counters can be displayed in view. I need a way to save only the selected instances of the selected counters. – Elliott B May 05 '20 at 22:22
  • Brilliant solution from Microsoft. A "Save Settings" and "Load Settings" option in the File menu of the application would be SO complex and confusing :-/ – Ken Apr 05 '21 at 23:59
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If you are using Performance Monitor, it does let you save and later load a set of counters. Right-click on the graph for "Save Settings As", which will prompt you to enter an HTML file name. Yep, HTML.

To later load this file you will have to drag 'n drop the file onto the graph. I could not find a menu option for loading the file.

Edit: this has only been tested under Windows 7.

David Peters
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    I have tried to drag-and-drop the saved configuration (`*.html`) onto the *Performance Monitor* graph in Windows 10 (64bit), and nothing happens. Dragging the configuration onto the *Performance Monitor* graph hosted by the *Microsoft Management Console (MMC)* doesn't work either. – Pressacco May 26 '17 at 13:58
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    Agree - fails for me. – user3546411 Feb 16 '18 at 21:28
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    I was unable to open the HTML file using the suggested method under Win10. You can right-click and Open With Internet Explorer, but the counters all show as Zeros and won't collect data. I also tried copy/paste counters between the IE window and another Perfmon window without success.. The Accepted Answer appears to be the only solution under Windows 10. For what it's worth - I used to open the HTM file on Win7 with success, so this appears to be a breaking change in Windows 10. – ripvlan Sep 17 '18 at 18:57
  • This still works - you just need to copy the HTML _source code_, not the file nor from the browser; i.e. open-in-notepad; copy everything; paste in perfmon. It's crazy, but it works. The MMC solution is however probably better, I suppose... – Eamon Nerbonne May 17 '23 at 11:42