Using the Performance Logs and Alerts tool, you can configure alerts. This way when problems occur on your computer, you can be alerted. By setting up an administrative alert, your computer will perform a specific action when the threshold for the counters is reached. This is particularly useful for monitoring computers that are critical to your day to day operations. For example, you can configure your computer to notify you when the amount of available disk space falls below a certain amount.

You can set up administrative alerts through the Performance console using the steps outlined below:

1. Click Start and click Run.

2. Type perfmon.msc and click OK.
3. Expand Performance Logs and Alerts.
4. Right click Alerts and click New Alert Settings.
5. Type in a name for the new alert and click OK.
6. The properties dialog box for the new alert will appear. Click the Add button to specify the counters you want monitored in the alert.
7. Click Close.
8. Highlight each counter in the list and specify the value that will trigger an administrative alert.
9. Use the Sample data every field to configure the sampling interval.
10. Use the Run As field to specify a different user account under which the monitoring will occur.
11. Click the Action tab.
12. Choose the actions you want to occur when the alert is triggered.
13. Use the Schedule tab to specify when to begin monitoring the counters and how long to monitor them.

[tags]windows,microsoft,xp,diana huggins,performance alert[/tags]