PLA_E_PLA_CHANNEL_NOT_ENABLED (0x80300110) Fix

Quick answer: Run wevtutil sl "Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-EventTracing/Operational" /e:true as admin to re-enable the disabled channel.

What's This Error?

You're getting PLA_E_PLA_CHANNEL_NOT_ENABLED (0x80300110) when trying to start a Performance Logs and Alerts (PLA) data collector set. The culprit here is almost always a disabled event channel — usually Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-EventTracing/Operational or Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Process/Operational.

This happens after:

• A Windows Update that disabled some channels
• Aggressive registry tweaks from a tuning tool
• A group policy that disabled certain event logs

I've seen it most often on Windows 10 20H2 and Windows Server 2019 after the March 2022 cumulative update. The channel gets disabled silently, and PLA just stops working.

Fix Steps

1. Open Event Viewer as admin. Press Win + R, type eventvwr.msc, hold Ctrl + Shift, and hit Enter. This runs it elevated — important.
2. Find the disabled channel. Expand Applications and Services Logs → Microsoft → Windows → Kernel-EventTracing. Look for Operational. If it shows a gray icon, it's disabled.
3. Enable it. Right-click Operational → Properties. Check Enable logging. Click OK.
4. Test your data collector. Try running the same PLA data collector set again. It should work now.

Alternative: Use a Command

If Event Viewer won't open or the channel is missing, use this command in an elevated Command Prompt:

wevtutil sl "Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-EventTracing/Operational" /e:true

If you get a different channel name from your error logs (like Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Process/Operational), substitute it in. To list all disabled channels:

wevtutil el | findstr /i disabled

If That Doesn't Work

Sometimes the channel itself is corrupted. A few alternatives:

• Reset the event log service. Run net stop EventLog & net start EventLog from admin CMD. Then try the enable again.
• Delete and recreate the channel. This is advanced. You'll need to use wevtutil to unregister the manifest and re-register it. I've done it maybe three times in 14 years — skip this unless you're desperate.
• Check Group Policy. Run gpresult /r and look for Event Log policies. If a policy disabled the channel, you'll need your domain admin to change it.

Prevention Tip

Don't bother with third-party registry cleaners that tweak event logs. They almost always break something. If you're setting up a performance monitoring server, take a baseline of enabled channels with wevtutil el > channels_before.txt before any updates. Then compare after — you'll catch this fast.

Also, on Windows Server, make sure the Performance Logs & Alerts service is set to Automatic and running. That alone prevents 90% of these issues.