Q. How can I continually check a performance counter from Windows PowerShell?

A. You can easily use the Get-Counter cmdlet to check the value of a performance counter. If you use the -Continuous switch, the up-to-date value will be displayed. Simply pass the name of the counter you want to view and the server the counter should be monitored on. For example, to monitor the IO Writes counter on CSV Volume 1 on the server SAVDALVS01, run the following command.

PS C:> Get-Counter '\savdalvs01Cluster Shared Volumes(ClusterStorageVolume1)IO Writes' -ContinuousTimestamp CounterSamples--------- --------------3/18/2009 1:23:35 PM \savdalvs01cluster shared volumes(clusterstoragevolume1)io writes :15455033/18/2009 1:23:36 PM \savdalvs01cluster shared volumes(clusterstoragevolume1)io writes :15455043/18/2009 1:23:37 PM \savdalvs01cluster shared volumes(clusterstoragevolume1)io writes :1545512

Note that you can easily monitor a value on any server, not just the local server.

Related Reading:

Check out hundreds more useful Q&As like this in John Savill's FAQ for Windows. Also, watch instructional videos made by John at ITTV.net.