How to enable persistent tracing for a wireless LAN in Windows

INTRODUCTION

This article discusses how to enable tracing for a wireless local area network (WLAN) when you start a computer that is running Windows. To enable tracing at the time when a computer starts, you must enable persistent tracing from the command line.

More Information

You can enable tracing for a WLAN by using Performance Monitor or by using the netsh command-line tool. By default, the tracing mode in Windows is nonpersistent. That is, after you enable tracing, it remains active until you manually stop it or until you restart the computer.

In certain scenarios, you may have to enable tracing for a WLAN at the time when a computer starts. For example, you may want to do this to troubleshoot and debug issues that occur before a user logs on to the computer. To do this, use the netsh command-line tool to enable tracing and set the mode to the persistent parameter. Persistent tracing means that after you enable tracing, it remains active even after you restart the computer.

To enable persistent tracing for a WLAN in Windows, follow these steps:

1. Run the Command Prompt as administrator:
   
   Windows 7 or Windows Vista:
   Click Start , and then type cmd in the Start Search box.Right-click cmd in the Programs list, and then click Run as administrator.
   
    If you are prompted to confirm that you want to continue, click Continue.
   
   
   Windows 8.1 or Windows 8:
   Swipe in from the right to bring up the charms. Search for cmd. Press-and-hold or right-click Command Prompt in the Search results, and then tap or click Run as administrator.
   

2. Type the following line at the command prompt, and then press ENTER:

   netsh wlan set tra persistent
   Tracing starts immediately and is persistent. When you restart the computer, tracing starts shortly after the WLAN AutoConfig service starts. Existing trace log files are overwritten. 
   
   Note To stop tracing after you enable it, use the following command:

   Netsh wlan set tra no
   
   
   

References

For more information about the netsh command-line tool and how to use it to configure WLAN settings in Windows Vista, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista/en/library/90a564b9-34af-4a6b-937f-324e1862244b1033.mspx