Daniele Giabbai's Net Meter - User manual


Description


An utility to track network usage, showing actual vertical bar graphs for both download and upload byte amounts. It lets you determine if a download failed or if it has finished (no download activity). It is also useful for detecting at a glance if someone's stealing files and documents from your computer (unexpected upload activity).

Features:
  • FREE!
  • Network usage graph.
  • Actual and total network usage values.
  • Start with Windows.
  • Topmost, configurable transparent window.
  • Easy redimension/move window.
  • Hideable systray icon.
  • Visual Basic 6 source code!

Setup

During installation you'll basically be prompted to only set the target folder, but you can leave the default (under "Program Files").

Setup Figure 1

Setup Figure 2

Setup Figure 3

Setup Figure 4

Setup Figure 5

The first time the program starts, it prompts you to set it to automatically start at Windows startup. You can configure this option at a later time.

Setup Figure 5

You'll find the program icon from the start menu:

Setup Figure 5


Usage

So, now that I installed it, what can I do and what should I get from this tool?

Move it

Drag the window, by keeping clicked the left mouse button, to your preferred position on the screen. My preferred one is almost on the top right corner of the screen, just few millimeters from the minimize/maximize/close buttons of other windows.

It shows network activity

There are two indicators to get network activity: the vertical bar graph and the values.
The graph shows at a glance what network activity was going on in the last couple of minutes.
The values indicates actual network usage measured in Kbytes/second giving both upload and download values.

The green bars indicate that something is being uploaded.

E.g. when you send an e-mail:



The red bars indicate that something is being downloaded.

E.g. when you download a file:



And here's a mixed workload situation...

Set transparency level

By clicking with the right mouse button on the window, a context menu appears:



And here is how it looks after setting a 40% opacity...


Systray icon

Find it in the windows system tray, right next to the clock:



and disable/enable it from the "Show" submenu:

It can show only values

"Hey! I don't wanna see that clumsy graph!" ...then just hide it from from the "Show" submenu...

It can show only graph

"Hey! I don't care about values!" ...then just hide 'em from the "Show" submenu...

It shows actual values

By default actual values are displayed, which answers to the question: how many bytes are passing through my network connection right now?

It shows total values

Total bytes can be displayed too, since the program started...


Compatibility

  • Windows XP, Home and Pro: yes.
  • Windows Server 2003: yes.
  • Windows 2000, Pro and Server: yes.
  • Windows NT 4, Pro and Server: yes.
  • Windows 9x and ME: don't know.

   
Copyright © 2004-2005 Daniele Giabbai
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