Windows Performance Recorder

Windows Performance Recorder (WPR) is a profiling tool that captures low-overhead traces across CPU, memory, I/O, GPU, and power domains. It targets developers, performance engineers, and IT admins who need reproducible data to analyze system behavior under specific workloads, startup scenarios, or user interactions. By recording precise timing and event data, teams can correlate user experiences with underlying system activity and identify where latency or resource contention originates.
\n
Conceptually, WPR configures a set of providers, starts ETW trace collection, records for a defined duration or until a manual stop, and saves an ETL file for offline analysis with WPA or other tools. It supports predefined profiles (CPU, Disk IO, Network, Power) and custom provider sets, enabling focused captures or broad system traces. Output is portable and can be re-run on similar hardware for comparisons.
\n
Core differentiators: minimal runtime overhead and deterministic traces, cross-version compatibility, and easy automation via CLI. Use cases include application startup profiling, UI latency research, background service tracing, and performance regression analysis in CI pipelines.
\n
Outputs and post-processing: WPR writes an ETL trace file and optional logs; analysts view threads, events, and timing in WPA. The tool is designed to integrate with existing Windows diagnostic workflows, supporting repeatable experiments, easy sharing of traces, and trace-based performance improvement cycles.