PLA_E_PROPERTY_CONFLICT (0X80300101) fix for real people

What's this error really about?

You're trying to start a Data Collector Set in Performance Monitor (perfmon.msc) and you get 0X80300101 - PLA_E_PROPERTY_CONFLICT. The plain English: something's already holding a property you're trying to set. Usually it's a trace session or the Performance Logs & Alerts service itself.

Had a client last month whose print queue server locked up because of this—they were trying to monitor disk I/O for a dying drive, and the error kept popping. The fix wasn't complicated, just a service restart.

Here's the flow: start with the 30-second fix. If that doesn't work, move to the next one. Stop when the error's gone.

Fix 1: Restart the Performance Logs & Alerts service (30 seconds)

This clears most temporary property locks. The service is the one that runs Data Collector Sets, and sometimes it just gets stuck on a property.

1. Open Services.msc (Win+R, type services.msc, hit Enter)
2. Scroll down to Performance Logs & Alerts
3. Right-click it, choose Stop
4. Wait 10 seconds
5. Right-click again, choose Start

Now try running your Data Collector Set again. If it works, you're done. If not, move on.

Fix 2: Delete the specific Data Collector Set and recreate it (5 minutes)

Sometimes the set itself has a corrupted property—like a trace session that's already registered. Deleting it and starting fresh usually works.

1. Open Performance Monitor (perfmon.msc)
2. Expand Data Collector Sets > User Defined
3. Find the set that's giving you the error
4. Right-click it, choose Delete
5. Right-click User Defined, choose New > Data Collector Set
6. Give it the same name, pick Create manually (Advanced)
7. Add the same performance counters you had before

I've seen this fix work when the service restart didn't. The old set had a property like a file path that was locked by another process.

Fix 3: Clear all event trace sessions using the command line (15+ minutes)

This is for when the error is persistent and you've got multiple Data Collector Sets fighting. The PLA service keeps a list of registered trace sessions, and sometimes a session stays stuck even after the set is stopped.

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator (right-click Start, choose Command Prompt (Admin) or Terminal Admin)
2. Type logman query and hit Enter. This lists all active trace sessions and Data Collector Sets
3. Look for any session that shows Status: Running but you don't remember starting—especially ones related to your set name
4. For each suspicious session, type logman stop <sessionname> (replace <sessionname> with the exact name from the list)
5. Then type logman delete <sessionname> to remove it

logman query
logman stop "MyDataCollectorSet"
logman delete "MyDataCollectorSet"

After clearing those, restart the Performance Logs & Alerts service again (Fix 1). Then recreate your Data Collector Set from scratch (Fix 2).

Fix 4: Check for a registered caller that's blocking (advanced)

This is rare but happens. The error can mean another program registered a caller for the same performance counter. I once saw a custom monitoring tool conflict with Windows built-in perfmon. Here's how to dig into it:

1. Open Registry Editor (regedit.msc)
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\pla\Parameters
3. Look for any value named DataCollectorSets or similar
4. Delete any keys that reference the set you're having trouble with (back up the key first: right-click > Export)
5. Restart the service and try again

regedit
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\pla\Parameters

If you're not comfortable editing the registry, skip this. The first three fixes cover 99% of cases.

When none of this works

If you've done all four fixes and still get the error, you might have a corrupt Performance Counter DLL. You can rebuild the counters with this command in an elevated Command Prompt:

lodctr /R

That resets the performance counter registry strings and then rebuilds them. It can take a few minutes. After it finishes, restart the service and try your Data Collector Set again.

I've had to do this exactly twice in 10 years. Usually Fix 1 or Fix 2 does the job. Don't overthink it.