LocalizeCounterNames

Example.ps1

$Processor, $Privileged = Get-CounterLocalizedName "Processor", "% Privileged Time"
Get-Counter "\$Processor(_Total)\$Privileged"

PerformanceCounters.psm1

Add-Type -Name PerfCounter -Namespace Win32 -MemberDefinition '
[DllImport("pdh.dll", SetLastError=true, CharSet=CharSet.Unicode)]
public static extern UInt32 PdhLookupPerfNameByIndex(
    string szMachineName, uint dwNameIndex,
    System.Text.StringBuilder szNameBuffer, ref uint pcchNameBufferSize);

[DllImport("pdh.dll", SetLastError=true, CharSet=CharSet.Unicode)]
public static extern UInt32 PdhExpandCounterPath(
    string szWildCardPath, 
    [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPArray, SizeParamIndex = 2)]
    char[] mszExpandedPathList, ref uint pcchPathListLength);

[DllImport("pdh.dll", SetLastError=true, CharSet=CharSet.Unicode)]
public static extern UInt32 PdhLookupPerfIndexByName(
    string szMachineName, 
    string szNameBuffer,
    ref uint dwNameIndex
);
'


# Build a hash array of offsets into the counter buffer. Use the index
# values from the performance data queries to access the offsets.
function Get-CounterLocalizedName {
    #.Synopsis
    #   Look up localized names for performance counters.
    #.Description
    #   Users Remote Registry and PDH* functions to look up counters on remote computers
    #.Example
    #   $Processor, $Privileged = Get-CounterLocalizedName "Processor", "% Privileged Time"
    #   Get-Counter "\$Processor(_Total)\$Privileged"
    #
    #   Shows how to get counters in a culture-sensitive way.
    param(
        # The counter name to look up
        [string[]]$Counter,

        # The name of a computer to query against
        [Alias("CN")]
        $ComputerName = $env:COMPUTERNAME
    )
    if(!$global:LocalizedCounters) {
        $global:LocalizedCounters = @{}
    }

    if(!$global:LocalizedCounters.ContainsKey($ComputerName)) {

        $Reg = [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey]::OpenRemoteBaseKey("PerformanceData", $ComputerName) # , "Registry32"
        $Counters = $Reg.GetValue('Counter')
        $Reg.Close()

        #return registry values  
        $global:LocalizedCounters.$ComputerName = @{}
        $global:LocalizedCounters.($ComputerName).ByIndex = @{}
        $global:LocalizedCounters.($ComputerName).ByName = @{}
        foreach($c in $Counters)
        {
            if($foreach.MoveNext()) {
                $global:LocalizedCounters.($ComputerName).ByName.($foreach.Current) = $c
            }
        }
    }

    foreach($c in $Counter) {
        $index = $global:LocalizedCounters.($ComputerName).ByName.($c)

        if(!$global:LocalizedCounters.($ComputerName).ByIndex.ContainsKey($index)) {
            $global:LocalizedCounters.($ComputerName).ByIndex.$Index = Invoke-PdhLookupPerfNameByIndex $Index $ComputerName
        }

        $global:LocalizedCounters.($ComputerName).ByIndex.$Index
    }
}

set-alias Get-PerfName Invoke-PdhLookupPerfNameByIndex
set-alias gpn Invoke-PdhLookupPerfNameByIndex

function Invoke-PdhLookupPerfNameByIndex {
    param(
        [Parameter(ValueFromPipeline=$true, ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true)]
        [int]$Index,

        [Alias("CN")]
        $ComputerName = $env:COMPUTERNAME
    )
    process {
        [UInt32]$BufferSize = 0
        $Buffer = New-Object System.Text.StringBuilder $BufferSize
     
        $ErrorCode = "{0:X}" -f [Win32.PerfCounter]::PdhLookupPerfNameByIndex($ComputerName, $Index, $Buffer, [Ref]$BufferSize)

        if("800007D2" -eq $ErrorCode <# PDH_MORE_DATA #>) {
            $Buffer = New-Object System.Text.StringBuilder $BufferSize
            $ErrorCode = "{0:X}" -f [Win32.PerfCounter]::PdhLookupPerfNameByIndex($ComputerName, $Index, $Buffer, [Ref]$BufferSize)
        }

        if ($ErrorCode -eq "0")
        {
             $Buffer.ToString()
        }
        else
        {
            Write-Error ("ERRORCODE ${ErrorCode}: Unable to retrieve localized name!" +
            "`nYou may look up the error code here https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa373046"
            )
        }
    }
}

set-alias Get-PerfIndex Invoke-PdhLookupPerfNameByIndex
set-alias gpi Invoke-PdhLookupPerfNameByIndex

function Invoke-PdhLookupPerfIndexByName {
    param(
        [Parameter(ValueFromPipeline=$true, ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true)]
        [string]$Name,
        
        [Alias("CN")]
        $ComputerName = $env:COMPUTERNAME
    )
    process {
        [UInt32]$Index = 0
     
        $ErrorCode = "{0:X}" -f [Win32.PerfCounter]::PdhLookupPerfIndexByName($ComputerName, $Name, [Ref]$Index)
    
        if ($ErrorCode -eq "0")
        {
             $Index
        } elseif($ErrorCode -eq "C0000BD4"){
            Write-Error "ERRORCODE ${ErrorCode}: Unable to find the specified string ($Name) in the list of performance counter names and help-text strings"
        } elseif($ErrorCode -eq "800007D0"){
            Write-Error "ERRORCODE ${ErrorCode}: Unable to connect to the specified computer ($ComputerName), perhaps the computer is offline."
        }
        else
        {
            Write-Error ("ERRORCODE ${ErrorCode}: Unable to retrieve index!" +
            "`nYou may look up the error code here https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa373046"
            )
        }
    }
}

function Invoke-PdhExpandCounterPath {
    param($Path)
    [UInt32]$BufferSize = 0
    $Buffer = [char[]]""
 
    $ErrorCode = "{0:X}" -f [Win32.PerfCounter]::PdhExpandCounterPath($Path, $Buffer, [Ref]$BufferSize)

    if("800007D2" -eq $ErrorCode <# PDH_MORE_DATA #>) {
        $Buffer = New-Object "char[]" $BufferSize
        $ErrorCode = "{0:X}" -f [Win32.PerfCounter]::PdhExpandCounterPath($Path, $Buffer, [Ref]$BufferSize)
    }

    if("0" -eq $ErrorCode) {
        (New-Object String $Buffer).Trim(([char]0)) -split ([char]0)
    }
    else
    {
        # TODO: possibly handle the error codes and print the real error message
        # https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa373046%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
        Write-Error (("ERRORCODE ${ErrorCode}: Unable to expand path." )+ 
        " Please verify you passed a path like \\ComputerName\CounterPath*\Name" + 
        "`nYou may look up the error code here https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa373046"
        )
    }
}