It is apparently possible to read performance counters without administrator privileges.
This is useful information – read more here 
Anders Lybecker is an chief architect at Avior A/S, a consultancy firm in Copenhagen, Denmark.
He holds a degree in software engineering specializing in software development.
His primary expertise are the Microsoft .Net framework and SQL Server which he has been working with since the start of this century!
He enjoys discussing technical topics, teaching and speaking at conferences. Related posts: