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Author Archives: brucedawson
Bulk ETW Trace Analysis in C#
ETW traces record a wealth of information about how a Windows system is behaving. When analyzing a new and unknown problem there is no replacement for loading the trace into WPA and following the clues to a solution. The thrill … Continue reading
O(n^2), again, now in WMI
I recently hit some multi-minute delays on my workstation. After investigating I found that the problem was due to a lock being held for five minutes, and during that time the lock-holder was mostly just spinning in a nine-instruction loop. … Continue reading
Posted in Investigative Reporting, Programming, Rants, uiforetw, xperf
Tagged complexity, ETW, O(n^2), performance, WMI
45 Comments
Heap Snapshots–Tracing All Heap Allocations
I’ve recently started using heap snapshots on Windows to track heap allocations. I was able to use heap snapshots to record call stacks for all outstanding allocations in Chrome’s browser process over a full two weeks, letting me account for … Continue reading
Posted in Documentation, Performance, Programming, uiforetw, xperf
Tagged heap snapshots, memory
23 Comments
63 Cores Blocked by Seven Instructions
I seem to have a habit of writing about super powerful machines whose many cores are laid low by misuse of locks. So. Yeah. It’s that again. But this one seems particularly impressive. I mean, how often do you have … Continue reading
Posted in Investigative Reporting, Performance, Programming, uiforetw, xperf
Tagged ETW, ntfs, wpa
39 Comments
We Need a Carbon Tax, Now, That Goes Up Over Time
If we tax fossil fuels – making them more expensive – then the awesome power and creativity of the free market will create diverse alternatives and efficiencies with minimal additional government intervention. We will ultimately save money, be healthier, and … Continue reading
O(n^2) in CreateProcess
So many possible introductions to this one: Windows 7: Sheesh, I sure am slow at creating processes Windows 10: Hold my beer… Or how about: A) How long does CreateProcess take on Windows? B) How long would you like it … Continue reading
Exercises in Emulation: Xbox 360’s FMA Instruction
Years ago I worked in the Xbox 360 group at Microsoft. We were thinking about releasing a new console, and we thought it would be nice if that console could run the games of the previous console. Emulation is always … Continue reading
When Your Profiler Lies
Last week I wrote about the performance consequences of inadvertently loading gdi32.dll into processes that are created and destroyed at very high rates. This week I want to share some techniques for digging deeper into this behavior, and the odd … Continue reading
Posted in Investigative Reporting, Performance, Programming, uiforetw, xperf
Tagged GDI, process shutdown, UserCrit
20 Comments
A Not-Called Function Can Cause a 5X Slowdown
Subtitle: Making Windows Slower Part 3: Process Destruction In the summer of 2017 I wrestled with a Windows performance problem. Process destruction was slow, serialized, and was blocking the system input queue, leading to repeated short mouse-movement hangs when building … Continue reading
Posted in Investigative Reporting, Performance, Programming
Tagged GDI, process shutdown, UserCrit
14 Comments
