Perfmon takes up entire memory

Question

Is it expected?

• Windows 2008 R2 Storage Server SP1, 6GB physical RAM, 18 GB Paging file
• Running 12 hours of Perfmon collection with low sample interval
• After some time, Commit charge reaches the limit , windows screams and all sort of issues follow, caused by memory shortage.
• additionally errors "An error was detected on device \Device\Harddisk2\DR2 during a paging operation." appear in the eventlog.
• Eventually memory is released

This does not make sense to me.Should Perfmon even be allowed to consume all memory? Disk error message does not make it easier to decipher either.

Answer 1

It most definitely shouldn't but I don't think that there is a way through the UI wizard to set maximum memory consumption. A workaround that comes to mind is configure your perfcounters through logman and then do something like

start /LOW tracerpt.exe

EDIT: I didn't saw the screenshot I assumed logman. Changed answer removed link.