The Windows® Performance Toolkit for Windows 8 is a major new release that consists of Windows Performance Recorder (WPR) and Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA). These tools are available in the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) and in the Windows Software Development Kit (SDK).

Windows Performance Recorder

Windows Performance Recorder (WPR) replaces Xperf.exe and Xbootmgr.exe with two new executable files: one for the command line and one for a new user interface (UI). The command-line version contains built-in recording profiles to simplify the use of WPR. You can also author custom XML profiles for special scenarios.

Xperf.exe and Xbootmgr.exe remain available for backward compatibility with existing scripts and traces. Xperfview.exe is no longer supported. You must open all recordings by using the WPA UI: whether the recordings are created by using the command line, the UI, or the WPRControl API. You cannot open recordings from the command line for analysis in WPA.

For more information about WPR, see the following articles:

Windows Performance Analyzer

Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA) expands on the functions of Xperfview.exe. WPA lets you view and analyze WPR recordings and assessment results from the Assessment Platform. WPA includes the following features:

  • WPA has a very flexible UI that lets you customize the view. You can select the graphs to display by using a graph explorer that provides thumbnails of available graphs. You can detach all panes and tabs in a view to appear in a separate window. WPA dynamically synchronizes graphs and their associated tables. For a brief introduction to the WPA UI, see Introduction to the WPA User Interface.

  • WPA provides a data table for each graph. WPA dynamically updates the graph as you change the table, and vice versa. You can rearrange and pivot data table columns so that any column can serve as a key. The data tables also have full text search capabilities. For more information about WPA graphs and data tables, see Graphs and Data Tables.

  • You can zoom in repeatedly to any section of a graph to obtain a very detailed view of a very small time segment.

  • You can filter data so that only the desired data appears in a graph and the graph’s associated table.

  • You can select user preferences and set view profiles for viewing specific types of recordings.

  • An Issues window shows the issues that are present in an assessment.

  • A Details window shows the details of the issues identified in the assessment results, together with possible solutions.

See Also