PerfLogs - what kind of folder? Tips for Windows 7

Many users who previously used to work on computer terminals Microsoft Windows XP, in the transition to the "seven" faced with many innovations. This involved not only the settings or capabilities of the system, but also the appearance of new incomprehensible directories. One of them is PerfLogs. What is the folder in front of us? We will try to find out. At the same time we briefly consider the question of why it is needed in the system and what data it contains.

PerfLogs: what's the folder?

First of all, let's note at once that this directory appeared in Windows versions, starting with the seventh modification, and is present in more recent versions. Let's look at the catalog itself with the incomprehensible name PerfLogs. What is the folder in the system? This is not difficult to understand, if we deal with deciphering and translating the abbreviation.

In principle, it is not difficult to interpret the name of the catalog. Log is a journal or diary, and Perf is a reduction from Performance, which can be treated as "design", "performance". From here it is not difficult to draw a conclusion about what the PerfLogs folder is for - to store the performance reports of the computer system.

Where is the PerfLogs directory located?

As for the location of this directory, for sure many users paid attention that, as a rule, it is directly on the system disk.

Its role is played by the "C" drive, but if Microsoft Windows 7, for example, was installed in another partition (virtual volume), then this directory should be searched there.

What data does the PerfLogs directory contain?

As already mentioned, this folder contains the log files of the system performance report. However, here it is worth making one small clarification. The matter is that initially by default the directory is empty. Windows files and folders containing log information appear there only after the user has performed any performance tests. It is not difficult to imagine that in the case of frequent carrying out of a large number of checks in this catalog there will be a sufficiently large amount of information that can take up a lot of space. But about that a little later.

Analysis of system performance

So, before us is the PerfLogs directory. What kind of folder is considered in this case, I think, is already a little clear. Now let's see how the data contained in it can be reproduced, so to speak, in a normal form, in order to fully view the results of the tests and tests carried out.

Needless to say, if a user suddenly notices any problems in the system or, say, a significant reduction in the speed of its operation or even the stability of the state, he begins to try to find out the reasons for the occurrence of such a situation. Accordingly, the beginning of various tests for the speed of work on the performance of system or user tasks. All test data is logged. However, a Windows folder named PerfLogs can contain and, so to speak, unreadable data, which unlike normal logs, represented as text files, can not be viewed by standard methods or with the help of any programs. You will have to use a special built-in utility called a system monitor (not to be confused with a similar resource monitoring service in the Task Manager, which works in real time and monitors the load on system resources).

Viewing reports in the system monitor

So, first, we'll use the standard "Start" button. Right click the menu, in which you must first select the search system (the "Find" string), then enter the abbreviated name of the service - perfmon.

You can do much easier if you type the same command in the "Run" menu, caused by the combination of keys Win + R.

Before us, the system monitor window appears, in which you need to go to the data collector groups. They are all combined in different ways (performance counters, configuration information, event tracking, diagnostics, etc.).

At the same time, groups that are presented in the form of their own Windows template are initially used. Nevertheless, they can be redistributed or divided into those that the system itself offers, and those that the user can create. It goes without saying that here you can see all the results of tests, tests or some kind of scanning. The common report file for all groups is saved no longer in PerfLogs, but in the sub-directory Diagnostics located in the System subfolder, in other words, C: \ PerfLogs \ System \ Diagnostics. The file has an .html extension and can be easily opened in any Internet browser or even in Microsoft Word.

Folder PerfLogs in Windows 7 and above: can I delete it without damage to the system?

Now a few words about how important the role of this directory in Windows 7 and above. Yes, indeed, it contains reports that are generated during checks, and they are viewed in the system monitor. As mentioned above, the more tests, the more files are created in this directory. As you can see, obsolete data is not needed by either the system or the user, therefore everything that is in the PerfLogs folder can be removed as unnecessary without critical consequences for the operation of the "operating system".

But sometimes the question can also consist in deleting the directory itself. Without a doubt, you can remove it. Some may object, they say, but where will the data of the journal be recorded? The answer is simple: when rebooting, the system will automatically create a new directory with the same name and in the same place, so you can not worry about it.

However, deleting the contents of a folder in manual mode, if you do not intend to delete it, is not always justified. It's better to use the disk cleanup tool , where the tick just needs to highlight the log files, although the application of this method is mandatory and is not.

Conclusion

Here, in general, and everything that concerns the folder PerfLogs and issues related to what it needs, what function it performs in the system and whether it is possible to get rid of it. The only thing that you should pay attention to is that after removing it, the information for viewing in the system monitor will become inaccessible. If you have to find out the causes of the problems that arise, at the initial stage of solving problems with the performance and speed of Windows, it is better not to touch the directory. You can start deleting data after a solution is found to eliminate the failures.

How to get rid of this directory, each user decides on his own. However, if you approach this issue objectively, then there is nothing terrible in that the folder will be deleted entirely and completely in manual mode, and not by cleaning the system disk or partition. Anyway, this will not affect the system in any way, and when you reboot, a similar directory will be created automatically.