Why is Spotlight on Exchange showing -2 and grayed out objects on the homepage? (3245)

Why is Spotlight showing -2 and grayed out objects on the homepage?

Spotlight on Exchange cannot gatherer the data it needs because performance counters are not available on the remote server. Any associated Spotlight on Exchange graphics will be disabled (turned gray). Associated drill down graphics will not show any data for this sample and some numerical values will be displayed as -2 until this problem is resolved.

To confirm this issue, launch the Native Performance Monitor from the SOE system, then connect remotely to the Exchange Server and check under Objects for the missing Exchange info in SOE (for example, MTA, IS). If these Exchange Objects are not seen in Performance Monitor then SOE will display -2's and grayed out objects on the homepage.

On Microsoft TechNet site the following 3 articles refer to this issue.

Performance Object Is Not Displayed in Performance Monitor - PRB: Performance Object Is Not Displayed in Performance Monitor (Q248993)
<http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;248993>

Restoring Lost Performance Counters for Exchange - XADM: Restoring Lost Performance Counters for Exchange (Q156494)
<http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;156494>

Troubleshooting Performance Monitor Counter Problems (Q152513) - SUMMARY The Performance Monitor utility Perfmon.exe may not display valid counter objects. Below are some troubleshooting methods that can be used to resolve the issue.
<http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;152513>

In certain cases the Operating System will disables PerfMon Objects/Counters if the server is under a heavy load. Listed below is information that is available under the Help in Performance Monitor and the steps to locate it manually.

Launch Performance Monitor
Select Help Menu
Select Help Topics
Select Index
Type; Resolving Performance Problems
Select Troubleshooting
Under, What Problem are you Having?
Select Object, Counters, or Instances seem to be missing or invalid

This will display the following info:

Cause: Test routines that run when you start Performance have detected a problem with installed counters and have disabled the counters automatically to prevent the counters from slowing the system. Disabled objects and counters do not appear in the Add Counters dialog box.

Solution: Using Registry Editor, change the value under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Service_name\Performance\Disable Performance Counters from 1 for disable to 0 for enable. Note that counters that have been disabled after initial testing are likely to contain errors and may cause system problems. For information about debugging problems with counter DLLs, see the Microsoft Web site <http://msdn.microsoft.com>.

Caution
Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.

Cause: The process that starts the object counters is not started or installed.
Solution: Use Task Manager to verify that the process is running. If so, use Exctrlst.exe on the Windows 2000 Resource Kit companion CD to verify that the counter DLL is enabled.

Cause: The counters haven't been enabled (such as with the Network Segment object counters).
Solution: Make sure that the service or feature that provides the counter has been installed or configured.

Cause: The DLL that installs the counters is generating errors. An example is if the counter does not handle localization functions correctly.
Solution: Check Event Viewer to see whether the counter DLL or the Performance Data Helper reported any errors. If necessary, you can disable counter DLLs that are causing errors by using Exctrlst.exe on the Windows 2000 Resource Kit companion CD.

Cause: You are trying to monitor a 16-bit or MS-DOS application. Only 32-bit processes appear in the instances list. Active 16-bit processes appear as threads running in a Windows Virtual DOS Machine (NTVDM) process.
Solution: Monitor the application via the NTVDM process.
See also: Monitoring legacy programs

Cause: The instance you want to monitor is not currently active. If you are configuring System Monitor to collect real-time data, you can only select active instances for data collection. (If you are viewing logged data, you can select inactive instances for which the log contains data.) If you select the process and it stops after you've selected it, it will continue to appear in the list box but the reported data will be zeroes.
Solution: Make sure the instance is active.