WPR Quick Start
Applies To: Windows 8, Windows 8.1
This article summarizes the features that are available in the Windows® Performance Recorder (WPR) user interface (UI).
Note
You can also run WPR from the command-line; for information about that option, see WPR Command-Line Options.
In this article:
Recording by using the WPR Default Settings
Using Recording Profiles
Using Performance Scenarios
Using detail levels
Selecting a logging mode
Recording by using the WPR Default Settings
On the Start screen, click Windows Performance Recorder to open the WPR UI. In WPR, click Start to record system performance by using the default settings from the General profile.
For more information about this feature, see Start a Recording and Recording for Basic System Diagnosis.
Using Recording Profiles
WPR recording profiles contain all the information that is necessary to enable performance recording for a specific scenario. You can include multiple profiles in a single recording.
For general information about WPR profiles, see Recording Profiles.
WPR provides a wide selection of built-in recording profiles that are sorted into groups by function. For more information about WPR built-in profiles, see Built-in Recording Profiles and Select Built-in Profiles.
You can also author and add custom profiles (.wprp files) to record sets of events. For more information about custom profiles, see Authoring Recording Profiles and Add or Remove a Custom Recording Profile.
Using Performance Scenarios
You can use performance scenarios to record common scenarios such as on/off transitions or heap analysis. You can select only one scenario for a recording. For more information about performance scenarios, see WPR Scenarios and Change the Performance Scenario.
Using detail levels
You can select a detail level for each recording. The available levels are Light and Verbose. The Light detail level is used primarily for timing recordings. The Verbose detail level provides the detailed information that you need for analysis. For more information about detail levels, see Detail Level and Change the Detail Level.
Selecting a logging mode
WPR can log events either to a sequential file or to circular buffers in memory. Logging to a file is used for short traces, when you know when to expect the events that you want to trace. Logging to memory is used for continuous tracing, when you want to log events that can occur at any time. General scenarios can use both types of logging. However, on/off transitions can only use file logging.
For more information about logging modes, see Logging Mode and Change the Logging Mode.