How to see disk usage graph on Windows Server 2012

Question

I experience a huge slow-down on server. And the more I inspect, the less I find out what's going on wrong there.

I think it might be related to I/O. On local PC, I can open Task Manager, and see the disk usage:

However, on server I can't find a (preferably easy) way to see how much is disk in usage and if it's become the bottleneck or not.

How do you see disk usage on Windows Server 2012?

Downvoter, this is an objective question and I really need this and I'm not a professional server administrator. So, please add a comment explaining why. — Saeed Neamati, Nov 24 '15 at 14:44
Downvotes are not required to be accompanied by a comment. Absent a comment, you can assume that a downvote is due to one of the reasons stated in the down arrow hover text. — EEAA, Nov 24 '15 at 14:51
Also, "I really need this" isn't a valid reason for asking a question. I really need a pony, but I'm not about to ask for one on ServerFault. — womble, Nov 29 '15 at 01:27

score 12 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 24 '15 at 18:48

12

By default Windows hide the entry because of a noted significant performance impact in collecting Disk metrics on a Server:

You need to register the Disk Perfcounter before you see this entry.

close Taskmanager
open a cmd.exe as admin
run diskperf -Y
close cmd.exe and run Taskmgr

Now you see the entry:

To analyze disk activity deeper, install the WPT, run this xperf command and capture 1 minute of the activity:

xperf -on PROC_THREAD+LOADER+CSWITCH+DISPATCHER+DISK_IO+DISK_IO_INIT+FILENAME+FILE_IO+FILE_IO_INIT+PROFILE -stackwalk CSwitch+ReadyThread+FileCreate+FileCleanup+FileClose+FileRead+FileWrite+FileSetInformation+FileDelete+FileRename+DiskReadInit+DiskWriteInit+DiskFlushInit+Profile -buffersize 2048 -MaxFile 2048 -FileMode Circular && timeout -1 && xperf -d C:\diagDISKFILEIO.etl

and analyze the trace file in WPA.exe for DiskIO and FileIO.

answered Nov 24 '15 at 18:48

magicandre1981

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You'll need to disable the Paging Executive before running this. – joeqwerty Nov 24 '15 at 18:56
@joeqwerty for xperf and stackwalking yes. Win8 has it enabled by default. You need to do this in 7/2008R2 – magicandre1981 Nov 24 '15 at 19:01
This is a very useful answer. Then how to understand which process is the culprit? For me, the `Disk` column chooser in `Processes` tab of Task Manager is grayed out. – Saeed Neamati Nov 24 '15 at 21:01
click on "Open Resource Monitor" in the disk tab of Taskmgr. this opens a much better disk activity view here you can sort and filter for processes – magicandre1981 Nov 25 '15 at 05:17
is your question answered? Do you see the graph? if yes, "close" the question by marking the answer. – magicandre1981 Mar 05 '16 at 20:17
You need to open `cmd` as Administrator – BYISHIMO Audace Oct 10 '18 at 06:28
@BYISHIMOAudace read it again. I've already written this in my answer ‍♂️ – magicandre1981 Oct 10 '18 at 14:32
@magicandre1981 This doesn't answer the question, it doesn't show the disk space usage only the performance – Vlax Jun 11 '21 at 10:06
@Vlax it answers it correctly, you simply don't understand the question and answer. – magicandre1981 Jun 11 '21 at 11:52

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 17 '20 at 03:30

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Or just open Resource Monitor (a Windows built-in program). Click Start, and search for "Resource Monitor" which should give you what you are looking for.

Resource Monitor

edited Apr 17 '20 at 03:30

SamErde

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answered Apr 16 '20 at 14:38

DMac

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How to see disk usage graph on Windows Server 2012

2 Answers2