How to Monitor Performance of a Remote Computer Without Logging on to It (246758)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
This article was previously published under Q246758

SUMMARY

This article describes how to use Performance Monitor and the Datalog.exe file that is included with Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Resource Kit to log data and generate alerts on a remote computer without having to log on to it.

MORE INFORMATION

To log data and generate alerts on a remote computer without having to log on to it, follow these steps:

NOTE: In the following steps, replace <remotecomputer> with the name of the computer that you want to monitor.

  1. Install the Windows NT 4.0 Resource Kit on the remote computer.
  2. At the local computer, use Windows NT Performance Monitor (Perfmon.exe) to create a workspace file:
    1. Start Performance Monitor, and then click Log on the View menu.
    2. Add the relevant counters, specifying all objects you want to log and the alerts you want to generate.
    3. On the Options menu, click Log.
    4. In the File Name box, specify a name for the log file using the .log extension.
    5. Click one of the logging interval options, and then click Save to save the logging options.
    6. On the File menu, click Save Workspace.
    7. In the File Name box, type a workspace file name using the .pmw extension, and then click Save.
    8. Quit Performance Monitor.
  3. Copy both the workspace file you just created and the Datalog.exe file included with the Windows NT 4.0 Resource Kit to the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder on the remote computer.
  4. At the local computer, set up the Data Logging service for the remote computer:
    1. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

      monitor \\remotecomputer setup

      NOTE: This command registers the service with Windows NT Server 4.0. You need to run the command only once for each computer you want to monitor. If you receive the following error message
      Failed to create Service
      it means that you have already run the command once.
    2. To use the workspace file for logging, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

      monitor \\remotecomputer filename

      where filename is the name of the workspace file you copied to the remote computer.
  5. To start the monitoring process, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    monitor \\remotecomputer start

  6. To stop the monitoring process, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    monitor \\remotecomputer stop

    After you stop the monitoring process, you can view the log file in Performance Monitor. For instructions about how to do this, see Help in Performance Monitor.

    Also, you can use the Schedule service and the AT command to schedule monitoring to occur at a set time. For example, if a server slows down noticeably between 2:40 A.M. and 2:50 A.M. every weeknight, you can log the data for that period without being physically present by typing the following AT commands:

    at \\remotecomputer 2:30 /every:m,t,w,th,f monitor start
    at \\remotecomputer 3:00 /every:m,t,w,th,f monitor stop

    If you want to be reminded about the log, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    at \\remotecomputer 3:00 /every:f net send yourusername 'The Monitor is stopped. The log contains data for this week!'

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/27/2002
Keywords:kbinfo KB246758
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.