Performance Logs and Alerts contain features for logging counter and event-tracing data, and for generating performance alerts. With counter logs, you can:

• Record data about hardware usage and the activity of system services from local or remote computers.
• Configure logging to occur manually on demand or automatically based on a user-defined schedule.
• Enable continuous logging, which is subject to file size or duration limits.
• View logged data by using the System Monitor display or by exporting it to a spreadsheet program or database so you can analyse the data and generate a report.

Trace logs record data when an event such as a hard disk I/O error or page fault occurs. When the event occurs, the monitoring service sends the data to the log service. You can set an alert that sends a message, runs a program, or starts a log when a selected counter's value equals, exceeds, or falls below a specified setting.

When you select a tool to see its status, if any logs or alerts are defined, then they appear in the details pane. A sample settings file for a counter log named System Overview is included with Windows 2000 and appears in the right pane of the Performance console when you select Counter Logs under Performance Logs and Alerts. You can use this file to see basic system data such as memory activity, hard disk activity, and processor activity.
You can right-click the log icon to create a new log or alert in a new file, or you can use settings from an existing HTML file as a template.