Windows Hardware Performance Counters Registry Key

This article explains how to locate and configure hardware and system performance counter settings within the Windows Registry Editor (Regedit). You will find the precise registry paths used by the Windows operating system to register, enable, disable, and monitor hardware and service performance counters, along with the specific values responsible for counter configurations.

Primary Performance Counters Registry Path (Perflib)

The central repository for all registered performance counters in Windows is managed by the Performance Library (Perflib). You can find this configuration at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib

Key Subkeys and Values in Perflib:

• 009 Subkey: Contains the localized strings (English) for performance counter titles and descriptions (Counter and Help multi-string values).
• CurrentLanguage: Contains counter names and help text for the currently active system display language.
• Configuration Flags: Contains settings determining how the system loads performance libraries and handles counter buffers.

Service and Driver Hardware Performance Counter Path

Individual hardware drivers, services, and subsystems register their specific performance counters under their respective service entries in CurrentControlSet.

To locate a specific hardware or service counter, navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\<ServiceName>\Performance

Replace <ServiceName> with the target service or hardware driver name (such as PerfOS, PerfDisk, or PerfProc).

Common Values in the Performance Key:

• Library: The DLL file responsible for collecting the counter data (e.g., perfdisk.dll or perfos.dll).
• Open: The entry-point function called to initialize counter data collection.
• Collect: The function called to query and retrieve counter data.
• Close: The function called when data collection stops.
• Disable Performance Counters: A DWORD value used to manage counter status:
  • 0: Performance counters are enabled (default).
  • 1 or 2: Performance counters for this specific service are disabled.

System-Wide Counter Configuration

To globally manage or query system-level profiling and hardware event counters (such as CPU Performance Monitoring Units via ETW/Kernel tracing), check the Session Manager and WMI tracing keys:

• Kernel Profiling Configuration:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Kernel
• WMI / Autologger Hardware Profiling:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\WMI\Autologger

How to Access These Keys in Regedit

1. Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
2. Copy any of the paths listed above.
3. Paste the path directly into the address bar at the top of the Registry Editor window and press Enter to navigate immediately to the configuration key.