Resourse Monitor

[dustywoodworker]

I am a long timer computer user but only on very rare occasions have I had the opportunity/need to utilize the Resource Monitor.

I now have a relatively new Dell XPS 8600 running Windows 10 (1803) and I have spent some time just exploring what is there.

I stumbled (sorta) upon the resource monitor and it appears to be a very powerful tool - if you might need it. It also appears as though it might have a steep learning curve.

Does the Resource Monitor warrant my time to learn how to use it and if so where might I find some documentation.

 

[Trouble]

It'd probably depend on what your objective might be.
There's a pretty good overview here https://www.thewindowsclub.com/use-resource-monitor-windows-10

There's nothing much to learn, it provides a real time picture of what's going on with various system resources over a brief period of time.
Personally, I use it with some frequency to keep an eye on my Disk usage and activities. Windows 10 seems to keep my SSD pretty busy.

Performance Monitor is another native tool, where in you can create user defined collector sets, create log files and generate reports.
It may be a bit more than most users are interested in. It's a bit more robust, complex and does have a bit of a learning curve.
It provides a few templates that you can use to create new data collectors where you can tailor them for something that you want to focus on.

 

[dustywoodworker]

Thanks for the feedback. I've been watching disk and memory. I'm surprised at the level of disk activity and alarmed at how little memory (I have 16GB installed) I use.

 

[dustywoodworker]

I have no real purpose. I just noticed it and am interested in knowing a bit more about what it might do for me. It seems like a potentially powerful tool..but then maybe not for a casual user as I am.

 

[Bighorn]

I'm surprised at the level of disk activity and alarmed at how little memory (I have 16GB installed) I use.

Don't worry about how much memory is being used but rest assured you have sufficient available for programs that may need it, does help when running more than 1 or 2 programs at the same time.

 

[Wolfie]

Hi dustywoodworker,

there is also Task Manager (I am sure you are also aware of it?), the best use is to stop an app running if and when it causes a problem!. It also shows other details as well. (Ctrl + Alt + Del to start the Task Manager).

 

[Saltgrass]

The reliability history is something which can be viewed as a graph and can be interesting.

Ask Cortana but it is in the Control Panel Security and Maintenance section. There used to be a command to start it but that does not seem to work anymore.

Try perfmon /rel to get the graph.