Third party processes that access performance monitor may crash after the system with Backup Exec 20.1 or higher service starts.

Problem

Third party processes that access category table or performance data in performance monitor may crash or terminate after the system with Backup Exec 20.1 or later starts. It has been observed so far that TfsJobAgent.exe or w3wp.exe crashes on Windows server 2016 soon after their processes starts.

This crash may be caused by BEPerfdll.dll when 3rd party processes access System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounterLib of .NET Framework.

Error Message

For details, please find the attached file.

Log Name:      Application
Source:        .NET Runtime
Date:          YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS
Event ID:      1026
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic

Description:
Application:TfsJobAgent.exe
Framework Version:v4.0.30319
Description: The process was terminated due to an unhandled exception.

Exception Info:System.AccessViolationException
at Microsoft.Win32.Win32Native.RegQueryValueEx(Microsoft.Win32.SafeHandles.SafeRegistryHandle, System.String, Int32[], Int32 ByRef, Byte[], Int32 ByRef)  
at Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey.InternalGetValue(System.String, System.Object, Boolean, Boolean)   
at Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey.GetValue(System.String)   
at System.Diagnostics.PerformanceMonitor.GetData(System.String)   
at System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounterLib.GetPerformanceData(System.String)   
at System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounterLib.get_CategoryTable()   
at System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounterLib.GetCategorySample(System.String)   
at System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounterLib.GetCategorySample(System.String, System.String)   
at System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounterCategory.GetCounterInstances(System.String, System.String)   
at Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Framework.Server.VssPerformanceCounterManager.GetProcessInstanceName()   
at Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Framework.Server.VssPerformanceCounterManager..cctor()

Solution

A hotfix is now available for this issue in the current version of the product mentioned in this article. Refer to the Hotfix link under Related Articles to obtain the hotfix needed to resolve the issue.

Backup Exec 20.4 Patch Update  (100043560)

WORKAROUND:
Please rename C:\Windows\System32\BEPerfdll.dll to BEPerfdll.old.

NOTE:
Renaming BEPerfdll.dll will stop capturing the backup performance parameters in Performance Monitor. This will not impact Backup Exec product functionality.