Category Archives: Performance

Why does Notepad++ hang when I open it?

Posted on May 12, 2016 by snowkoan

I am generally happy with Notepad++ but every now and then I find that it takes a long time to open. Yesterday, I started seeing a 20-second hang and after opening Notepad++ a few times, I became frustrated enough to troubleshoot … Continue reading →

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Symbols Do Not Load in Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA)

Posted on November 25, 2015 by snowkoan

The Windows Performance Toolkit (WPT) has been updated with the release of Windows 10 and I’ve just upgraded. There seem to be some minor improvements, but I noticed pretty quickly that I was unable to load symbols in Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA). … Continue reading →

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Performance Analysis Toolbox: Timeouts

Posted on June 3, 2014 by snowkoan

Music is the space between the notes – Claude Debussy I recently spent some time looking at a slow shutdown issue. When product X was installed, the system was taking 34 seconds to shut down, vs 22 seconds when the product was … Continue reading →

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Build 2014: Favourite Sessions

Posted on May 28, 2014 by snowkoan

Build 2014 is a distant memory at this point. Luckily, all sessions are still available for viewing on Channel 9. Here are my favourite sessions from the conference. Modern C++: What You Need to Know If you’re still in the dark … Continue reading →

Posted in Performance, Training, Troubleshooting | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Writing a WPA Regions of Interest File

Posted on April 8, 2014 by snowkoan

In my previuos article I wrote a very simple Windows Performance Recorder profile to enable a particular ETW Provider. After recording a trace, the next step is to open it up in Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA) to see what is … Continue reading →

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Writing a Very Simple WPR Profile

Posted on February 27, 2014 by snowkoan

In a previous post I discussed the joys of using the Windows Performance Toolkit to record and analyze Windows slowdowns. In summary, you can record a system trace using Windows Performance Recorder (WPR), and then use Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA) to visually … Continue reading →

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Why does Explorer hang when I right-click on a folder?

Posted on September 20, 2013 by snowkoan

Last week, I started seeing a 30-45 second hang when right-clicking on large .zip files. Troubleshooting this kind of slow system performance usually takes one of two forms: Blame the anti-virus and grumble about it. Systematically try and modify state … Continue reading →

Posted in Performance | Tagged | 6 Comments