Performance Counters for Windows Driver (pcw) Service Defaults in Windows 11
Default Settings
| Startup type: | Boot |
| Display name: | Performance Counters for Windows Driver |
| Service name: | pcw |
| Service type: | kernel |
| Error control: | normal |
| Group: | System Reserved |
| Path: | %SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\pcw.sys |
| Registry key: | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\pcw |
Default Behavior
Performance Counters for Windows Driver is a kernel driver. In Windows 11 it starts by the operating system Boot Loader before the Kernel initialization, as a part of the driver stack. If Performance Counters for Windows Driver fails to start, the failure details will be recorded into Event Log. Then Windows 11 should boot up and notify the user about the pcw service startup failure.
Restore Default Startup Configuration of Performance Counters for Windows Driver
1. Run the Command Prompt as an administrator.
2. Copy the commands below, paste them into the command window and press ENTER:
sc config pcw start= boot
sc start pcw
3. Close the command window and restart the computer.
The pcw service is using the pcw.sys file that is located in the C:\Windows\System32\drivers directory. If the file is removed or corrupted, read this article to restore its original version from Windows 11 installation media.