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UTC_E_PERFTRACK_ALREADY_TRACING
Interpret the result in context: PerfTrack trace ownership
UTC_E_PERFTRACK_ALREADY_TRACING has the unsigned value 0x87C51010. In UTC it comes from ETW trace-session control, where PerfTrack trace ownership owns the decision. Start by locating the exact scenario-engine boundary that emitted this Value. The immediate contract failed because the PerfTrack component already controls a tracing session and rejected another start, so diagnosis should remain at that boundary until a controlled comparison crosses it for this HRESULT.
The Universal Telemetry Client controls ETW sessions on behalf of diagnostic scenarios for this HRESULT. ETW sessions have controller-owned names, in-memory buffers, providers, logging modes and lifetimes; a status at this layer should be correlated with the actual session list rather than inferred from the presence of an ETL file for this HRESULT. Record the configuration package or scenario generation together with the Windows build; otherwise a repaired file can be tested against a stale in-memory graph and appear to fail for the same reason for this HRESULT.
Build a minimal evidence set
| UTC diagnostic field | Value |
|---|---|
| Owning state or object | PerfTrack trace ownership |
| Producing layer | ETW trace-session control |
| Do not confuse with | UTC_E_ALTERNATIVE_TRACE_CANNOT_PREEMPT is based on priority arbitration, not specifically PerfTrack ownership |
| Decisive evidence | PerfTrack session name, controller PID, active profiles, start time, stackwalk/provider settings and caller |
| Narrow comparison | stop the existing PerfTrack capture normally and start the requested profile once |
The AllStat message names the immediate condition as “Cannot start tracing: PerfTrack component is already tracing” for this HRESULT. In practice, the useful extension is to ask whether the request was rejected before any side effect, after partial setup, or during cleanup for this HRESULT. Verify the existence and ownership of the expected output—session, directory, process, result object or emitted event—rather than assuming the message describes the final system state for this HRESULT.
Run an A/B check
- Export the relevant
Microsoft-Windows-UniversalTelemetryClient/Operationalevents and preserve their ActivityId or request correlation alongside this result. - Capture PerfTrack session name, controller PID, active profiles, start time, stackwalk/provider settings and caller for this HRESULT. Do this before restarting the service or deleting any working directory for this HRESULT.
- Perform this one-variable comparison: stop the existing PerfTrack capture normally and start the requested profile once for this HRESULT.
- After the comparison, record the next HRESULT and whether the requested session, action, trigger or output object was actually created for this HRESULT.
The most informative neighbor is UTC_E_ALTERNATIVE_TRACE_CANNOT_PREEMPT. The distinction is concrete: UTC_E_ALTERNATIVE_TRACE_CANNOT_PREEMPT is based on priority arbitration, not specifically PerfTrack ownership for this HRESULT. Keeping both symbolic names in logs prevents a broad “DiagTrack error” bucket from hiding whether the failure occurred during parsing, authorization, resource acquisition, execution or teardown for this HRESULT.
Trace-session note
Use an ETW controller view to list session name, GUID, mode, buffers and enabled providers while this result is active. The presence of an ETL file from an earlier run is not proof that the required in-memory session currently exists or is owned by UTC for this HRESULT.
Safe remediation
Coordinate with the existing controller rather than forcibly stopping all ETW sessions for this HRESULT. Apply that change only to the owning boundary for this HRESULT. A successful repair must make the controlled case cross this boundary while retaining the intended policy, trace providers, destination and security context for this HRESULT.
Deleting the working directory, killing all ETW sessions or retrying in a tight loop can suppress this result temporarily while leaving the underlying lifecycle defect intact for this HRESULT.
- the same request now produces its documented success or nonfatal status without a second hidden retry
- the operational log shows one coherent request lifetime and no orphaned action, timer, process or trace session
- teardown followed by a second run does not reuse stale state or recreate PerfTrack trace ownership
- the nearby condition remains distinguishable: UTC_E_ALTERNATIVE_TRACE_CANNOT_PREEMPT is based on priority arbitration, not specifically PerfTrack ownership
Technical references
- Microsoft Open Specifications: Windows error-code registry — reference for ETW trace-session control while interpreting this result.
- Microsoft: Universal Telemetry Client configuration diagnosis — reference for ETW trace-session control while interpreting it.
- Microsoft: Event Tracing for Windows
- Microsoft: WPR and ETW sessions
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