[0.100.2] Enabling Performance Monitor extension immediately crashes Command Palette

Nobody has claimed this yet.

### Microsoft PowerToys version

0.100.2

### Installation method

[PowerToysReport_2026-07-06-14-38-33.zip](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/29690707/PowerToysReport_2026-07-06-14-38-33.zip)

GitHub

### Area(s) with issue?

Command Palette

### Steps to reproduce

1. Install PowerToys 0.100.2 on Windows 11 Pro 23H2 (build 22631.4112).[web:5][web:15][web:31]
2. Open PowerToys Settings → Command Palette → Extensions.
3. Turn on the Performance Monitor extension.
4. Invoke Command Palette via its keyboard shortcut.
5. Wait for Command Palette to load extensions.

### ✔️ Expected Behavior

- Command Palette stays open and the Performance Monitor extension initializes successfully.
- Performance-related widgets become available without crashing Command Palette.

### ❌ Actual Behavior

- As soon as the Performance Monitor extension is enabled and Command Palette tries to load it, Command Palette crashes immediately (the window closes and the shortcut stops working until PowerToys is restarted).
- There is no visible error dialog.
- If I keep the Performance Monitor extension disabled, Command Palette works normally.

### Upload Bug Report ZIP-file

[PowerToysReport_2026-07-06-14-38-33.zip](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/29690590/PowerToysReport_2026-07-06-14-38-33.zip)

### Additional Information

- PowerToys version: 0.100.2 (Installer)
- Windows edition: Windows 11 Pro
- Windows version: 23H2, OS build 22631.4112
- Locale / language: zh-TW, region Taiwan
- CPU: 12th Gen Intel Core i5-12500
- RAM: 16 GB
- GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 770 (integrated GPU only)
- Storage: SSD (Micron_2400_MTFDKBA512QFM) as system disk + HDD (WDC WD10EZEX-22BBHA0) as data disk
- Network: Includes Hyper-V Virtual Ethernet Adapter #2 (vEthernet External) alongside normal adapters
- PowerToys elevation: not running as administrator
- Installation type: Per-user

Summary

On this machine, simply enabling the Performance Monitor extension in Command Palette causes Command Palette to crash immediately. The crash happens as soon as the extension is turned on and Command Palette tries to initialize it, not after some time of usage.

Troubleshooting already tried

- Deleted `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys` to force PowerToys to recreate a fresh configuration. Even with a clean config, enabling the Performance Monitor extension still causes an immediate crash.
- Tried turning off Dock and using only Command Palette. The crash still occurs as long as Performance Monitor is enabled.
- I have not yet updated GPU drivers or Windows specifically for this issue.
- I have not yet checked Application Error events in Event Viewer.

Logs and diagnostics

- PowerToys / CmdPal logs:
- Located under `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys\CmdPal\Logs\0.100.2.0`.
- Attached: `CmdPal_PerfMonCrash_2026-07-06_logs.zip`.

- Crash dumps:
- Located under `%LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps`.
- Attached: `CmdPal_PerfMonCrash_2026-07-06_dumps.zip` containing several `Microsoft.CmdPal.UI.exe.XXXXX.dmp` files generated when enabling the Performance Monitor extension caused Command Palette to crash.

- Settings/config:
- I looked for a dedicated Command Palette `settings.json` under `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys` but could not find one, so I assume settings are stored centrally or in a different format in 0.100.2.

Additional observations

- My setup uses Hyper-V with a virtual Ethernet adapter (vEthernet External), which may introduce additional network interfaces for Performance Monitor to query.
- This behavior looks similar to "Activate Performance Monitor extension or enable Dock, command palette crashed" (#46522), but I am seeing it on 0.100.2 even after the hardening and crash recovery PR (#46541).
- The crash occurs during Performance Monitor extension initialization, not during normal runtime. It may be related to specific performance counters (CPU / GPU / network) in this environment that still throw an unhandled exception.

Suggestions

- It would be helpful if Performance Monitor initialization handled all counter reads with defensive exception handling, so that any failing widget is disabled individually instead of crashing the extension or Command Palette.
- Exposing the "auto-disabled due to crash" sentinel status in the Command Palette UI (for example in the Extensions page) could make crash recovery more transparent to users.

Please let me know what additional logs, dumps, or configuration details would be most useful; I am happy to collect and share them to help pinpoint the exact failure in Performance Monitor initialization.

### Other Software

_No response_

Start by reproducing the crash with the Performance Monitor extension enabled, then inspect the CmdPal logs under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys\CmdPal\Logs\0.100.2.0 and the Microsoft.CmdPal.UI.exe crash dumps under %LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps. Trace the Performance Monitor extension initialization and identify the failing counter or unhandled exception. Done means Command Palette remains open and the extension initializes successfully in the reported setup.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.