If you’ve every wanted to see a graphical representation of your CPU usage, memory utilization, network utilization and other measures right on your desktop, then check out Perfgraph, a free software that can insert real-time representations of these into the Windows taskbar.
Perfgraph runs within the Explorer.exe process and can monitor a number of things including CPU utilization for up to 8 cores, memory utilization, network performance, and even CPU, HDD, and Chipset temperatures, fan speeds, and other hardware measurements.
It’s not a perfect app; however, there it is not without virutes. See below for both PROS that made us write it up and CONS that could be addressed to make this software even better.
How to use this app:
First install the app (get the correct version 32bit vs. 64bit). You may see the notification message displayed on the right. Click yes.- If you don’t see a Perfgraph instance on the taskbar, right click on the taskbar, select ‘Toolbars’ and then check ‘Perfgraph’.
- Right click on the taskbar and uncheck ‘Lock the taskbar’ if in fact it is checked.
- Once you have at least one Perfgraph instance on the taskbar, right click on it and select ‘New Perfgraph Instance’. You can do this more than once if you want.
- Right click ‘Perfgraph Configuration’ on each instance to configure it. If you want your widgets labeled then check ‘show label’ for each one.
- Once you have your widgets/metrics set up and placed correctly, right click on the taskbar and check ‘Lock the taskbar’ to lock it up again.
What I like about this one: PROS
- The insertion into the tasbar, is a great idea, especially if your screen real estate is sparse
- A good range of metrics, measurements and metrics to choose from.
What I do not like about it: CONS
- Most hardware measures displayed an error when I used them. Not sure why.
- The network measurements were a tad too complicated to set up IMHO.
- Installation and setup could be a little more user friendly
The verdict: a very nice little Windows tweak, especially if you want to know this information but cannot afford the screen real estate to display it on. Try it and let me know your feedback.
Get Perfgraph here (Windows XP through 7; 32 bit and 64 bit versions available).
