PerformanceCounterCategory.Delete(String) Method

Definition

Removes the category and its associated counters from the local computer.

public static void Delete (string categoryName);

Parameters

categoryName
String

The name of the custom performance counter category to delete.

Exceptions

The categoryName parameter is null.

The categoryName parameter has invalid syntax. It might contain backslash characters ("\") or have length greater than 80 characters.

A call to an underlying system API failed.

The category cannot be deleted because it is not a custom category.

Code that is executing without administrative privileges attempted to read a performance counter.

Examples

The following code example uses the Delete method to delete a PerformanceCounterCategory and the PerformanceCounter objects that it contains.

public static void Main(string[] args)
{
    string categoryName = "";

    // Copy the supplied argument into the local variable.
    try
    {
        categoryName = args[0];
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Missing argument identifying category to be deleted.");
    }

    // Delete the specified category.
    try
    {
        if (PerformanceCounterCategory.Exists(categoryName))
        {
            PerformanceCounterCategory.Delete(categoryName);
            Console.WriteLine("Category \"{0}\" deleted from this computer.", categoryName);
        }
        else
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Category name not found");
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Unable to delete " +
            "category \"{0}\" from this computer:" + "\n" + ex.Message, categoryName);
    }
}

Remarks

You can delete only custom performance counter categories from the system. You cannot delete a counter from a category. To do so, delete the category and recreate the category with the counters you want to retain. To avoid an exception, confirm that the category exists before you attempt to delete it.

Note

To read performance counters from a non-interactive logon session in Windows Vista and later, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, or Windows Server 2003, you must either be a member of the Performance Monitor Users group or have administrative privileges.

To avoid having to elevate your privileges to access performance counters in Windows Vista and later, add yourself to the Performance Monitor Users group.

In Windows Vista and later, User Account Control (UAC) determines the privileges of a user. If you are a member of the Built-in Administrators group, you are assigned two run-time access tokens: a standard user access token and an administrator access token. By default, you are in the standard user role. To execute the code that accesses performance counters, you must first elevate your privileges from standard user to administrator. You can do this when you start an application by right-clicking the application icon and indicating that you want to run as an administrator.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET 8 (package-provided), 9 (package-provided)
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7 (package-provided), 4.7, 4.7.1 (package-provided), 4.7.1, 4.7.2 (package-provided), 4.7.2, 4.8 (package-provided), 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 2.0 (package-provided)
Windows Desktop 3.0, 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

See also