Start and stop error for performance counter in Perfmon of Windows server 2008

Question

Dear All,
There is a centralized monitoring server to monitor a few Windows server 2003.
There is a error when I start the performance counter for remote servers.
But it can be started again after 10 seconds.
Error:
When attempting to start the Data Collector Set the following system error occured:
The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.
Another issue is I cannot start or stop the performance counter in command line (logman.exe) after 1 month.
The error message is similar to the above, it mentioned something is using the files.
I have to reboot my server.
I don't know how can I find out the root cause.
Please help.
Regards,
Tommy Chan

Answer 1

 
Dear Tommy,
This issue may be caused by certain programs running in the background.
If it is convenience for you to restart the server, you can do that and test the result.
If the issue persists, you can try a Clean Boot.
Clean boot
=================
Let’s disable all startup items and third party services when booting. This method will help us determine if this issue is caused by a loading program or service. Please perform the following steps:
1. Click the Start Button type "msconfig" (without quotation marks) in the Start Search box, and then press Enter.
Note: If prompted, please click Continue on the User Account Control (UAC) window.
2. Click the "Services" tab, check the "Hide All Microsoft Services" box and click "Disable All" (if it is not gray).
3. Click the "Startup" tab, click "Disable All" and click "OK".
Then, restart the computer. When the "System Configuration Utility" window appears, please check the "Don't show this message or launch the System Configuration Utility when Windows starts" box and click OK.
Please test this issue in the Clean Boot environment, if the issue disappears in the Clean Boot environment, we can use a 50/50 approach to quickly narrow down which entry is causing the issue.
If the issue still occurs, we may need to collect some trace information of the error message by using Process Monitor.
1. Download process monitor from the link given here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx
2. Run the process monitor on the problematic server:
3. Start Process Monitor. You will see File/Registry activity is being captured.
4. Press Ctrl+E to stop logging data.
5. Press Ctrl+X to clear the currently captured data.
6. Under Process Monitor, press Ctrl+E to start gathering data.
7. Now try to reproduce the issue: Start or stop the performance counter in command line to let the error message appear again.
8. Under Process Monitor, Press Ctrl+E to stop capturing.
9. Please save the captured data from Process Monitor to a file (File->Save) and upload this file to the following site:
https://sftus.one.microsoft.com/choosetransfer.aspx?key=626b99a0-c31f-4cd9-9fec-5e0597adef20
Password: i#qil_O$Q[
Please also collect the Process Explorer log on the problematic client:
1. Run the process monitor on the problematic client:
2. Start Process Monitor. You will see File/Registry activity is being captured.
3. Press Ctrl+E to stop logging data.
4. Press Ctrl+X to clear the currently captured data.
5. Under Process Monitor, press Ctrl+E to start gathering data.
6. Now try to reproduce the issue: Start or stop the performance counter in command line on the server to let the error message appear again.
7. Under Process Monitor, Press Ctrl+E to stop capturing.
8. Please save the captured data from Process Monitor to a file (File->Save) and upload it to the above site as well.
Tim Quan - MSFT