In this post, I will show you how to time boot & perform a Boot Trace in Windows systems using Windows SDK (Software Development Kit).
Time boot & perform a Boot Trace in Windows
To get started, you need the Windows Performance Tools Kit. Sadly, Microsoft removed the stand-alone installer from the download. To get the installer, you have to install the Windows SDK for your version of Windows.
Make sure to just select the Win32 Development Tools or I promise you, you’ll be waiting for a long time for it to download and install (I found out the hard way not paying attention).
Now go to the path C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v10.0\bin and look for the 3 files:
- wpt_ia64.msi, if you’re running an Itanium Windows
- wpt_x64.msi, if you run a 64Bit Windows
- wpt_x86.msi, if you run a 32Bit Windows
Now open an elevated command prompt and run the following commands:
For boot tracing:
xbootmgr -trace boot -traceFlags BASE+CSWITCH+DRIVERS+POWER -resultPath C:\TEMP
For shutdown tracing:
xbootmgr -trace shutdown -noPrepReboot -traceFlags BASE+CSWITCH+DRIVERS+POWER -resultPath C:\TEMP
For Standby+Resume:
xbootmgr -trace standby -traceFlags BASE+CSWITCH+DRIVERS+POWER -resultPath C:\TEMP
For Hibernate+Resume:
xbootmgr -trace hibernate -traceFlags BASE+CSWITCH+DRIVERS+POWER -resultPath C:\TEMP
replace C:\TEMP with any temp directory on your machine as necessary to store the output files
All of these will shut down, hibernate, or standby your box, and then reboot to finish tracing. Once Windows reboots, log back in as necessary, and once the countdown timer finishes, you should now have some tracing files in C:\TEMP.
If asked, upload or provide the file(s) generated in C:\TEMP (or the directory you chose) on a download share for analysis.
To view information, open the Performance Analyzer Trace File.
That’s it!
