Diskmon in Vista?

April 28, 2008

Has anybody tested Diskmon

(http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/sysinternals/bb896646.aspx) in Windows

Vista?

"DiskMon is an application that logs and displays all hard disk activity on

a Windows system. You can also minimize DiskMon to your system tray where it

acts as a disk light, presenting a green icon when there is disk-read

activity and a red icon when there is disk-write activity."

Carlos

April 28, 2008

Re: Diskmon in Vista?

The jury is still 'out' pondering the warranty ramifications for my 64bit

dual-core, so out of boredom I installed this to my Win2K machine. I have to

say that the 80K's of code is probably a lot more interesting than the

utility itself. One interesting observation might be that the icon seems to

log much more activity than the front-panel LED is doing!

Tony. . .

"Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:95A5BC7F-8D97-4E97-9710-1BC93A57B117@microsoft.com...

> Has anybody tested Diskmon

> (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/sysinternals/bb896646.aspx) in Windows

> Vista?

> "DiskMon is an application that logs and displays all hard disk activity

on

> a Windows system. You can also minimize DiskMon to your system tray where

it

> acts as a disk light, presenting a green icon when there is disk-read

> activity and a red icon when there is disk-write activity."

> Carlos

April 28, 2008

Re: Diskmon in Vista?

Hi Tony,

Here's the whole story, as I was in a hurry when I posted my question this

morning.

My newest laptop (HP530) has Vista Home Premium 32-bit and doesn't have any

LED for HDD activity.

That, and the fact that the hard disk is quite silent, leads me to a

blind/deaf state for monitoring disk activity.

After googling a little, I found DiskMon and installed it on Windows XP at

work, w/o the permission of the IT guys!!!

I noticed the same as you, there's a lot of activity monitored by DiskMon

that doesn't show up in the front cabinet LED.

It seems as if small read/write operations don't have the time length

required for the human eye to see them, but DiskMon systray LED must surely

be extending that time artificially so that it is visible to the eye.

The WinXP version requires no driver at all and it is just that, an

executable. Which leads me to think that it should work in Vista x86.

Don't know whether this line of thought also applies to Vista x64.

Maybe someone jumps in and sheds some light.

Carlos

"Tony Sperling" wrote:

> The jury is still 'out' pondering the warranty ramifications for my 64bit

> dual-core, so out of boredom I installed this to my Win2K machine. I have to

> say that the 80K's of code is probably a lot more interesting than the

> utility itself. One interesting observation might be that the icon seems to

> log much more activity than the front-panel LED is doing!

>

> Tony. . .

>

> "Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:95A5BC7F-8D97-4E97-9710-1BC93A57B117@microsoft.com...

> > Has anybody tested Diskmon

> > (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/sysinternals/bb896646.aspx) in Windows

> > Vista?

> > "DiskMon is an application that logs and displays all hard disk activity

> on

> > a Windows system. You can also minimize DiskMon to your system tray where

> it

> > acts as a disk light, presenting a green icon when there is disk-read

> > activity and a red icon when there is disk-write activity."

> > Carlos

>

April 28, 2008

Re: Diskmon in Vista?

A HP without a disk activity indicator? That I find surprising, but at the

same time I'm not really surprised - I didn't put all laptops to that much

scrutiny so I can have missed any number. For that kind of application I

agree, that makes it potentially usefull. I don't think I would bother to

set it up to autostart, though.

With 80K's of binary instruction, it has got to be well written - and I

would expect nothing else from MR. According to his notes, the tool is

written as a GUI/Devicedriver combo, using a substitution technique by

intercepting the device's own driver and subverting information that it can

use to be displayed for it's own purposes. Since Devicedrivers on Vista are

written on a completely new foundation, as I understand it, your hopes may

not be realized? Let's see what people have to say.

Tony. . .

"Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:9BBCBDB3-8241-4B53-B010-8568BBB0B93D@microsoft.com...

> Hi Tony,

> Here's the whole story, as I was in a hurry when I posted my question this

> morning.

> My newest laptop (HP530) has Vista Home Premium 32-bit and doesn't have

any

> LED for HDD activity.

> That, and the fact that the hard disk is quite silent, leads me to a

> blind/deaf state for monitoring disk activity.

> After googling a little, I found DiskMon and installed it on Windows XP at

> work, w/o the permission of the IT guys!!!

> I noticed the same as you, there's a lot of activity monitored by DiskMon

> that doesn't show up in the front cabinet LED.

> It seems as if small read/write operations don't have the time length

> required for the human eye to see them, but DiskMon systray LED must

surely

> be extending that time artificially so that it is visible to the eye.

> The WinXP version requires no driver at all and it is just that, an

> executable. Which leads me to think that it should work in Vista x86.

> Don't know whether this line of thought also applies to Vista x64.

> Maybe someone jumps in and sheds some light.

> Carlos

>

> "Tony Sperling" wrote:

>

> > The jury is still 'out' pondering the warranty ramifications for my

64bit

> > dual-core, so out of boredom I installed this to my Win2K machine. I

have to

> > say that the 80K's of code is probably a lot more interesting than the

> > utility itself. One interesting observation might be that the icon seems

to

> > log much more activity than the front-panel LED is doing!

> >

> > Tony. . .

> >

> > "Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> > news:95A5BC7F-8D97-4E97-9710-1BC93A57B117@microsoft.com...

> > > Has anybody tested Diskmon

> > > (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/sysinternals/bb896646.aspx) in

Windows

> > > Vista?

> > > "DiskMon is an application that logs and displays all hard disk

activity

> > on

> > > a Windows system. You can also minimize DiskMon to your system tray

where

> > it

> > > acts as a disk light, presenting a green icon when there is disk-read

> > > activity and a red icon when there is disk-write activity."

> > > Carlos

> >

April 28, 2008

Re: Diskmon in Vista?

Tony,

Testing it right now on Vista HP x86...

Systray "LED" always glows red, as apposed to XP where it blinks green for

"read" and red for "write".

So far so good, real LED's on cabinets do not change color when reading or

writing to HD.

Carlos

"Tony Sperling" wrote:

> A HP without a disk activity indicator? That I find surprising, but at the

> same time I'm not really surprised - I didn't put all laptops to that much

> scrutiny so I can have missed any number. For that kind of application I

> agree, that makes it potentially usefull. I don't think I would bother to

> set it up to autostart, though.

>

> With 80K's of binary instruction, it has got to be well written - and I

> would expect nothing else from MR. According to his notes, the tool is

> written as a GUI/Devicedriver combo, using a substitution technique by

> intercepting the device's own driver and subverting information that it can

> use to be displayed for it's own purposes. Since Devicedrivers on Vista are

> written on a completely new foundation, as I understand it, your hopes may

> not be realized? Let's see what people have to say.

>

> Tony. . .

>

> "Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:9BBCBDB3-8241-4B53-B010-8568BBB0B93D@microsoft.com...

> > Hi Tony,

> > Here's the whole story, as I was in a hurry when I posted my question this

> > morning.

> > My newest laptop (HP530) has Vista Home Premium 32-bit and doesn't have

> any

> > LED for HDD activity.

> > That, and the fact that the hard disk is quite silent, leads me to a

> > blind/deaf state for monitoring disk activity.

> > After googling a little, I found DiskMon and installed it on Windows XP at

> > work, w/o the permission of the IT guys!!!

> > I noticed the same as you, there's a lot of activity monitored by DiskMon

> > that doesn't show up in the front cabinet LED.

> > It seems as if small read/write operations don't have the time length

> > required for the human eye to see them, but DiskMon systray LED must

> surely

> > be extending that time artificially so that it is visible to the eye.

> > The WinXP version requires no driver at all and it is just that, an

> > executable. Which leads me to think that it should work in Vista x86.

> > Don't know whether this line of thought also applies to Vista x64.

> > Maybe someone jumps in and sheds some light.

> > Carlos

> >

> > "Tony Sperling" wrote:

> >

> > > The jury is still 'out' pondering the warranty ramifications for my

> 64bit

> > > dual-core, so out of boredom I installed this to my Win2K machine. I

> have to

> > > say that the 80K's of code is probably a lot more interesting than the

> > > utility itself. One interesting observation might be that the icon seems

> to

> > > log much more activity than the front-panel LED is doing!

> > >

> > > Tony. . .

> > >

> > > "Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> > > news:95A5BC7F-8D97-4E97-9710-1BC93A57B117@microsoft.com...

> > > > Has anybody tested Diskmon

> > > > (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/sysinternals/bb896646.aspx) in

> Windows

> > > > Vista?

> > > > "DiskMon is an application that logs and displays all hard disk

> activity

> > > on

> > > > a Windows system. You can also minimize DiskMon to your system tray

> where

> > > it

> > > > acts as a disk light, presenting a green icon when there is disk-read

> > > > activity and a red icon when there is disk-write activity."

> > > > Carlos

> > >

>

April 28, 2008

Re: Diskmon in Vista?

That's right, cabinets have generic activity displays - so has my HP

notebook. It's got a blue array of Power, Disk and Charge/Plug-in status.

So, it clearly picks up a signal in 32bits, let's keep hoping, but I do

suspect the 'Red Only' may in fact indicate a Vista peculiarity, since the

LED wouldn't ever be static, or you cannot monitor any activity!

Tony. . .

"Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:9647B9CA-C384-4649-8EA2-3A6F4899E7F6@microsoft.com...

> Tony,

> Testing it right now on Vista HP x86...

> Systray "LED" always glows red, as apposed to XP where it blinks green for

> "read" and red for "write".

> So far so good, real LED's on cabinets do not change color when reading or

> writing to HD.

> Carlos

>

> "Tony Sperling" wrote:

>

> > A HP without a disk activity indicator? That I find surprising, but at

the

> > same time I'm not really surprised - I didn't put all laptops to that

much

> > scrutiny so I can have missed any number. For that kind of application I

> > agree, that makes it potentially usefull. I don't think I would bother

to

> > set it up to autostart, though.

> >

> > With 80K's of binary instruction, it has got to be well written - and I

> > would expect nothing else from MR. According to his notes, the tool is

> > written as a GUI/Devicedriver combo, using a substitution technique by

> > intercepting the device's own driver and subverting information that it

can

> > use to be displayed for it's own purposes. Since Devicedrivers on Vista

are

> > written on a completely new foundation, as I understand it, your hopes

may

> > not be realized? Let's see what people have to say.

> >

> > Tony. . .

> >

> > "Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> > news:9BBCBDB3-8241-4B53-B010-8568BBB0B93D@microsoft.com...

> > > Hi Tony,

> > > Here's the whole story, as I was in a hurry when I posted my question

this

> > > morning.

> > > My newest laptop (HP530) has Vista Home Premium 32-bit and doesn't

have

> > any

> > > LED for HDD activity.

> > > That, and the fact that the hard disk is quite silent, leads me to a

> > > blind/deaf state for monitoring disk activity.

> > > After googling a little, I found DiskMon and installed it on Windows

XP at

> > > work, w/o the permission of the IT guys!!!

> > > I noticed the same as you, there's a lot of activity monitored by

DiskMon

> > > that doesn't show up in the front cabinet LED.

> > > It seems as if small read/write operations don't have the time length

> > > required for the human eye to see them, but DiskMon systray LED must

> > surely

> > > be extending that time artificially so that it is visible to the eye.

> > > The WinXP version requires no driver at all and it is just that, an

> > > executable. Which leads me to think that it should work in Vista x86.

> > > Don't know whether this line of thought also applies to Vista x64.

> > > Maybe someone jumps in and sheds some light.

> > > Carlos

> > >

> > > "Tony Sperling" wrote:

> > >

> > > > The jury is still 'out' pondering the warranty ramifications for my

> > 64bit

> > > > dual-core, so out of boredom I installed this to my Win2K machine. I

> > have to

> > > > say that the 80K's of code is probably a lot more interesting than

the

> > > > utility itself. One interesting observation might be that the icon

seems

> > to

> > > > log much more activity than the front-panel LED is doing!

> > > >

> > > > Tony. . .

> > > >

> > > > "Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> > > > news:95A5BC7F-8D97-4E97-9710-1BC93A57B117@microsoft.com...

> > > > > Has anybody tested Diskmon

> > > > > (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/sysinternals/bb896646.aspx) in

> > Windows

> > > > > Vista?

> > > > > "DiskMon is an application that logs and displays all hard disk

> > activity

> > > > on

> > > > > a Windows system. You can also minimize DiskMon to your system

tray

> > where

> > > > it

> > > > > acts as a disk light, presenting a green icon when there is

disk-read

> > > > > activity and a red icon when there is disk-write activity."

> > > > > Carlos

> > > >

> >

April 29, 2008

Re: Diskmon in Vista?

Tony,

It has two different states:

- Gray for no activity

- Red for both read (former green) and write (former red)

So it clearly tells me whether the drive is being accessed (red) or not

(gray).

Sorry for the confusion.

Carlos

"Tony Sperling" wrote:

> That's right, cabinets have generic activity displays - so has my HP

> notebook. It's got a blue array of Power, Disk and Charge/Plug-in status.

>

> So, it clearly picks up a signal in 32bits, let's keep hoping, but I do

> suspect the 'Red Only' may in fact indicate a Vista peculiarity, since the

> LED wouldn't ever be static, or you cannot monitor any activity!

>

> Tony. . .

>

> "Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:9647B9CA-C384-4649-8EA2-3A6F4899E7F6@microsoft.com...

> > Tony,

> > Testing it right now on Vista HP x86...

> > Systray "LED" always glows red, as apposed to XP where it blinks green for

> > "read" and red for "write".

> > So far so good, real LED's on cabinets do not change color when reading or

> > writing to HD.

> > Carlos

> >

> > "Tony Sperling" wrote:

> >

> > > A HP without a disk activity indicator? That I find surprising, but at

> the

> > > same time I'm not really surprised - I didn't put all laptops to that

> much

> > > scrutiny so I can have missed any number. For that kind of application I

> > > agree, that makes it potentially usefull. I don't think I would bother

> to

> > > set it up to autostart, though.

> > >

> > > With 80K's of binary instruction, it has got to be well written - and I

> > > would expect nothing else from MR. According to his notes, the tool is

> > > written as a GUI/Devicedriver combo, using a substitution technique by

> > > intercepting the device's own driver and subverting information that it

> can

> > > use to be displayed for it's own purposes. Since Devicedrivers on Vista

> are

> > > written on a completely new foundation, as I understand it, your hopes

> may

> > > not be realized? Let's see what people have to say.

> > >

> > > Tony. . .

> > >

> > > "Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> > > news:9BBCBDB3-8241-4B53-B010-8568BBB0B93D@microsoft.com...

> > > > Hi Tony,

> > > > Here's the whole story, as I was in a hurry when I posted my question

> this

> > > > morning.

> > > > My newest laptop (HP530) has Vista Home Premium 32-bit and doesn't

> have

> > > any

> > > > LED for HDD activity.

> > > > That, and the fact that the hard disk is quite silent, leads me to a

> > > > blind/deaf state for monitoring disk activity.

> > > > After googling a little, I found DiskMon and installed it on Windows

> XP at

> > > > work, w/o the permission of the IT guys!!!

> > > > I noticed the same as you, there's a lot of activity monitored by

> DiskMon

> > > > that doesn't show up in the front cabinet LED.

> > > > It seems as if small read/write operations don't have the time length

> > > > required for the human eye to see them, but DiskMon systray LED must

> > > surely

> > > > be extending that time artificially so that it is visible to the eye.

> > > > The WinXP version requires no driver at all and it is just that, an

> > > > executable. Which leads me to think that it should work in Vista x86.

> > > > Don't know whether this line of thought also applies to Vista x64.

> > > > Maybe someone jumps in and sheds some light.

> > > > Carlos

> > > >

> > > > "Tony Sperling" wrote:

> > > >

> > > > > The jury is still 'out' pondering the warranty ramifications for my

> > > 64bit

> > > > > dual-core, so out of boredom I installed this to my Win2K machine. I

> > > have to

> > > > > say that the 80K's of code is probably a lot more interesting than

> the

> > > > > utility itself. One interesting observation might be that the icon

> seems

> > > to

> > > > > log much more activity than the front-panel LED is doing!

> > > > >

> > > > > Tony. . .

> > > > >

> > > > > "Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> > > > > news:95A5BC7F-8D97-4E97-9710-1BC93A57B117@microsoft.com...

> > > > > > Has anybody tested Diskmon

> > > > > > (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/sysinternals/bb896646.aspx) in

> > > Windows

> > > > > > Vista?

> > > > > > "DiskMon is an application that logs and displays all hard disk

> > > activity

> > > > > on

> > > > > > a Windows system. You can also minimize DiskMon to your system

> tray

> > > where

> > > > > it

> > > > > > acts as a disk light, presenting a green icon when there is

> disk-read

> > > > > > activity and a red icon when there is disk-write activity."

> > > > > > Carlos

> > > > >

> > >

>

April 29, 2008

Re: Diskmon in Vista?

As a user mode application, Diskmon is sitting above the file system cache

and the storage stack. The disk activity light on the hard drive is at the

opposite end; the bottom of the storage stack. In between you have layers

of caching. Diskmon is reqorting disk activity (the blinking light) which

is satisfied from cache and doesn't actually make it to the disk (no

blinking light).

"Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:9BBCBDB3-8241-4B53-B010-8568BBB0B93D@microsoft.com...

> Hi Tony,

> Here's the whole story, as I was in a hurry when I posted my question this

> morning.

> My newest laptop (HP530) has Vista Home Premium 32-bit and doesn't have

> any

> LED for HDD activity.

> That, and the fact that the hard disk is quite silent, leads me to a

> blind/deaf state for monitoring disk activity.

> After googling a little, I found DiskMon and installed it on Windows XP at

> work, w/o the permission of the IT guys!!!

> I noticed the same as you, there's a lot of activity monitored by DiskMon

> that doesn't show up in the front cabinet LED.

> It seems as if small read/write operations don't have the time length

> required for the human eye to see them, but DiskMon systray LED must

> surely

> be extending that time artificially so that it is visible to the eye.

> The WinXP version requires no driver at all and it is just that, an

> executable. Which leads me to think that it should work in Vista x86.

> Don't know whether this line of thought also applies to Vista x64.

> Maybe someone jumps in and sheds some light.

> Carlos

>

> "Tony Sperling" wrote:

>

>> The jury is still 'out' pondering the warranty ramifications for my 64bit

>> dual-core, so out of boredom I installed this to my Win2K machine. I have

>> to

>> say that the 80K's of code is probably a lot more interesting than the

>> utility itself. One interesting observation might be that the icon seems

>> to

>> log much more activity than the front-panel LED is doing!

>>

>> Tony. . .

>>

>> "Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>> news:95A5BC7F-8D97-4E97-9710-1BC93A57B117@microsoft.com...

>> > Has anybody tested Diskmon

>> > (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/sysinternals/bb896646.aspx) in

>> > Windows

>> > Vista?

>> > "DiskMon is an application that logs and displays all hard disk

>> > activity

>> on

>> > a Windows system. You can also minimize DiskMon to your system tray

>> > where

>> it

>> > acts as a disk light, presenting a green icon when there is disk-read

>> > activity and a red icon when there is disk-write activity."

>> > Carlos

>>

April 29, 2008

Re: Diskmon in Vista?

Thanks, John!

That cleared all my doubts.

Carlos

"John Fullbright" wrote:

> As a user mode application, Diskmon is sitting above the file system cache

> and the storage stack. The disk activity light on the hard drive is at the

> opposite end; the bottom of the storage stack. In between you have layers

> of caching. Diskmon is reqorting disk activity (the blinking light) which

> is satisfied from cache and doesn't actually make it to the disk (no

> blinking light).

>

> "Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:9BBCBDB3-8241-4B53-B010-8568BBB0B93D@microsoft.com...

> > Hi Tony,

> > Here's the whole story, as I was in a hurry when I posted my question this

> > morning.

> > My newest laptop (HP530) has Vista Home Premium 32-bit and doesn't have

> > any

> > LED for HDD activity.

> > That, and the fact that the hard disk is quite silent, leads me to a

> > blind/deaf state for monitoring disk activity.

> > After googling a little, I found DiskMon and installed it on Windows XP at

> > work, w/o the permission of the IT guys!!!

> > I noticed the same as you, there's a lot of activity monitored by DiskMon

> > that doesn't show up in the front cabinet LED.

> > It seems as if small read/write operations don't have the time length

> > required for the human eye to see them, but DiskMon systray LED must

> > surely

> > be extending that time artificially so that it is visible to the eye.

> > The WinXP version requires no driver at all and it is just that, an

> > executable. Which leads me to think that it should work in Vista x86.

> > Don't know whether this line of thought also applies to Vista x64.

> > Maybe someone jumps in and sheds some light.

> > Carlos

> >

> > "Tony Sperling" wrote:

> >

> >> The jury is still 'out' pondering the warranty ramifications for my 64bit

> >> dual-core, so out of boredom I installed this to my Win2K machine. I have

> >> to

> >> say that the 80K's of code is probably a lot more interesting than the

> >> utility itself. One interesting observation might be that the icon seems

> >> to

> >> log much more activity than the front-panel LED is doing!

> >>

> >> Tony. . .

> >>

> >> "Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> >> news:95A5BC7F-8D97-4E97-9710-1BC93A57B117@microsoft.com...

> >> > Has anybody tested Diskmon

> >> > (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/sysinternals/bb896646.aspx) in

> >> > Windows

> >> > Vista?

> >> > "DiskMon is an application that logs and displays all hard disk

> >> > activity

> >> on

> >> > a Windows system. You can also minimize DiskMon to your system tray

> >> > where

> >> it

> >> > acts as a disk light, presenting a green icon when there is disk-read

> >> > activity and a red icon when there is disk-write activity."

> >> > Carlos

> >>

>

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