Vista - Reliability Monitor no longer adding new data

Hi, my Reliability Monitor System Stability Chart stopped updating on
5/22/2007. The chart updated daily starting on 2/7/2007 (the day after Vista
was installed) until 5/22/2007. I've checked Task Schedular and RACAgent is
still running: Status is Queued; Last Run Time is 5/25/2007 3:12:39AM; Last
Run Result is "Unspecified error (0x80004005).

The files in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\RAC\PublishedData and StateData all
have a Date Modified value of 5/23/2007 3:01AM (i.e. the day after the chart
stopped updating). Could these files (perhaps just the index
PublishedRacMonIndex.DAT) be corrupted somehow? If so, is there a way to
recreate the index file? Will removing all these files (after backing them
up to be safe) reset (and clear out) the System Stability Chart so that it
will start updating again?

Thanks, Clay

OK, I've answered the question myself. My Reliability Monitor is now
updating again and it's showing all data from Vista install (2/7/2007)
through yesterday (5/24/2007). To fix the problem, follow these steps:

1) Back up the files in the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\RAC\PublishedData and
StateData directories
2) Empty both directories (i.e. deleted all the files in them). Note after
doing this Reliability Monitor puts up a text message in place of the
Stability Chart that says something to the effect that the data is missing or
corrupt.
3) Open a Command Prompt with elevated (Administrator) priveleges.
4) execute RACAgent at the prompt. Note that the task will run for a while
(several minutes on my system).
5) Open Reliability Monitor. Note that some or all of the Stability Chart
is back.
6) Check the "Last Updated:" date. If it's earlier than yesterday's date,
repeat step 4 and 5.

I had to run RACAgent 3 times to get it to work it's way through all the
data. It appears to process only a month's worth of data at a time.

This raises a number of interesting questions, e.g. where does RACAgent go
to find the data that it's processing and putting into the files stored in
the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\RAC\PublishedData and StateData directories; why
does it only process one month's worth of data at a time; and assuming
RACAgent stopped working on my system because of corruption in these files,
what type of events can cause the corruption. I don't expect answers to
these questions of course - I'm just happy I managed to figure out how to
resurrect this important Vista feature. Hopefully future versions will be
more robust.

"clayga" wrote:

> Hi, my Reliability Monitor System Stability Chart stopped updating on
> 5/22/2007. The chart updated daily starting on 2/7/2007 (the day after Vista
> was installed) until 5/22/2007. I've checked Task Schedular and RACAgent is
> still running: Status is Queued; Last Run Time is 5/25/2007 3:12:39AM; Last
> Run Result is "Unspecified error (0x80004005).
>
> The files in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\RAC\PublishedData and StateData all
> have a Date Modified value of 5/23/2007 3:01AM (i.e. the day after the chart
> stopped updating). Could these files (perhaps just the index
> PublishedRacMonIndex.DAT) be corrupted somehow? If so, is there a way to
> recreate the index file? Will removing all these files (after backing them
> up to be safe) reset (and clear out) the System Stability Chart so that it
> will start updating again?
>
> Thanks, Clay

One last note: in order to avoid a permissions violation when the RACAgent
that runs as a daily scheduled task attempts to update the files in the
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\RAC\PublishedData and StateData directories , you
need to give Modify priviledges (via the Security tab in the Properties
dialog in Windows Explorer) to LOCAL SERVICES for all the files.

"clayga" wrote:

> OK, I've answered the question myself. My Reliability Monitor is now
> updating again and it's showing all data from Vista install (2/7/2007)
> through yesterday (5/24/2007). To fix the problem, follow these steps:
>
> 1) Back up the files in the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\RAC\PublishedData and
> StateData directories
> 2) Empty both directories (i.e. deleted all the files in them). Note after
> doing this Reliability Monitor puts up a text message in place of the
> Stability Chart that says something to the effect that the data is missing or
> corrupt.
> 3) Open a Command Prompt with elevated (Administrator) priveleges.
> 4) execute RACAgent at the prompt. Note that the task will run for a while
> (several minutes on my system).
> 5) Open Reliability Monitor. Note that some or all of the Stability Chart
> is back.
> 6) Check the "Last Updated:" date. If it's earlier than yesterday's date,
> repeat step 4 and 5.
>
> I had to run RACAgent 3 times to get it to work it's way through all the
> data. It appears to process only a month's worth of data at a time.
>
> This raises a number of interesting questions, e.g. where does RACAgent go
> to find the data that it's processing and putting into the files stored in
> the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\RAC\PublishedData and StateData directories; why
> does it only process one month's worth of data at a time; and assuming
> RACAgent stopped working on my system because of corruption in these files,
> what type of events can cause the corruption. I don't expect answers to
> these questions of course - I'm just happy I managed to figure out how to
> resurrect this important Vista feature. Hopefully future versions will be
> more robust.
>
> "clayga" wrote:
>
> > Hi, my Reliability Monitor System Stability Chart stopped updating on
> > 5/22/2007. The chart updated daily starting on 2/7/2007 (the day after Vista
> > was installed) until 5/22/2007. I've checked Task Schedular and RACAgent is
> > still running: Status is Queued; Last Run Time is 5/25/2007 3:12:39AM; Last
> > Run Result is "Unspecified error (0x80004005).
> >
> > The files in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\RAC\PublishedData and StateData all
> > have a Date Modified value of 5/23/2007 3:01AM (i.e. the day after the chart
> > stopped updating). Could these files (perhaps just the index
> > PublishedRacMonIndex.DAT) be corrupted somehow? If so, is there a way to
> > recreate the index file? Will removing all these files (after backing them
> > up to be safe) reset (and clear out) the System Stability Chart so that it
> > will start updating again?
> >
> > Thanks, Clay

I have attempted your fix with no luck. I don't even have information in my
RAC files at all. The service is running and everything seems to be as it
should but I have no information in my monitor and I never have. Help!!

"clayga" wrote:

> One last note: in order to avoid a permissions violation when the RACAgent
> that runs as a daily scheduled task attempts to update the files in the
> C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\RAC\PublishedData and StateData directories , you
> need to give Modify priviledges (via the Security tab in the Properties
> dialog in Windows Explorer) to LOCAL SERVICES for all the files.
>
> "clayga" wrote:
>
> > OK, I've answered the question myself. My Reliability Monitor is now
> > updating again and it's showing all data from Vista install (2/7/2007)
> > through yesterday (5/24/2007). To fix the problem, follow these steps:
> >
> > 1) Back up the files in the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\RAC\PublishedData and
> > StateData directories
> > 2) Empty both directories (i.e. deleted all the files in them). Note after
> > doing this Reliability Monitor puts up a text message in place of the
> > Stability Chart that says something to the effect that the data is missing or
> > corrupt.
> > 3) Open a Command Prompt with elevated (Administrator) priveleges.
> > 4) execute RACAgent at the prompt. Note that the task will run for a while
> > (several minutes on my system).
> > 5) Open Reliability Monitor. Note that some or all of the Stability Chart
> > is back.
> > 6) Check the "Last Updated:" date. If it's earlier than yesterday's date,
> > repeat step 4 and 5.
> >
> > I had to run RACAgent 3 times to get it to work it's way through all the
> > data. It appears to process only a month's worth of data at a time.
> >
> > This raises a number of interesting questions, e.g. where does RACAgent go
> > to find the data that it's processing and putting into the files stored in
> > the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\RAC\PublishedData and StateData directories; why
> > does it only process one month's worth of data at a time; and assuming
> > RACAgent stopped working on my system because of corruption in these files,
> > what type of events can cause the corruption. I don't expect answers to
> > these questions of course - I'm just happy I managed to figure out how to
> > resurrect this important Vista feature. Hopefully future versions will be
> > more robust.
> >
> > "clayga" wrote:
> >
> > > Hi, my Reliability Monitor System Stability Chart stopped updating on
> > > 5/22/2007. The chart updated daily starting on 2/7/2007 (the day after Vista
> > > was installed) until 5/22/2007. I've checked Task Schedular and RACAgent is
> > > still running: Status is Queued; Last Run Time is 5/25/2007 3:12:39AM; Last
> > > Run Result is "Unspecified error (0x80004005).
> > >
> > > The files in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\RAC\PublishedData and StateData all
> > > have a Date Modified value of 5/23/2007 3:01AM (i.e. the day after the chart
> > > stopped updating). Could these files (perhaps just the index
> > > PublishedRacMonIndex.DAT) be corrupted somehow? If so, is there a way to
> > > recreate the index file? Will removing all these files (after backing them
> > > up to be safe) reset (and clear out) the System Stability Chart so that it
> > > will start updating again?
> > >
> > > Thanks, Clay

Im sure this feature runs every hour and displays a report every 24 hours....