Solved CPU-Drive-RAM Real Time Activity Widget For Windows 11?

AllenChicago · Jan 31, 2026

Greetings Everyone!

On this new PC (HP Omnidesk) there is nothing but a (boring) power button light. On the computer it replaces (2009 HP Pavilion), there was a light showing Hard Drive Activity, and before Windows 10, it had Windows 7, with a really nice widget that was always on the desktop called "CPU Meter". It showed CPU & Hard Drive & RAM usage in real time, with 3 analog speedometer-like gauges.

For WINDOWS 11, is there a recommended desktop widget that launches at startup and can stay on the right side of the screen, displaying real time activity of the P.C. hardware? All helpful guidance is appreciated!

-Allen in the Chicago area 1.31.2026

Ghot · Jan 31, 2026

AllenChicago said:
For WINDOWS 11, is there a recommended desktop widget

Compact Tray Meter

Download Compact Tray Meter: CPU, RAM & disk drives monitoring utility.

dennisbabkin.com

Scans clean locally and at Virustotal.

Ghot · Jan 31, 2026

And here's one for @Edwin

PerpetualCycle · Jan 31, 2026

HWINFO64 has an OSD in sensor mode. I think you are limited to displaying 5 things in the free version. You can choose graphs or values.

Ghot · Jan 31, 2026

PerpetualCycle said:
HWINFO64 has an OSD in sensor mode

So does AIDA64 Extreme
In my pic above, on the far left is AIDA's OSD... and it will also display System Tray sensors as well.

Here's all the stuff AIDA can display in the OSD or in the Tray sensor icons...

PerpetualCycle · Jan 31, 2026

Ghot said:
So does AIDA64 Extreme

That's not free. It is a subscription.

Edwin · Jan 31, 2026

On the rare occasion I need to monitor something, I'll just throw Task Manager into Summary View and pop it in a corner.

Ghot · Jan 31, 2026

Edwin said:
On the rare occasion I need to monitor something, I'll just throw Task Manager into Summary View and pop it in a corner.

The one in the video in post #2, allows you to edit the colors, text, background color, etc.
I immediately thought of you.

PerpetualCycle · Jan 31, 2026

You can also HWINFO64 up to do plots like this or the table of values and customize to whatever you want. I have it (whole second display configured like this for troubleshooting. You can also do arithmetic operations on multiple values to make a new user sensor value. It is primitive though (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). But that is enough to be very useful.

Ghot · Jan 31, 2026

PerpetualCycle said:
You can also set it up to do plots

But I bet it can't do this... you can set the OSD to run any font on your computer in any size.

You can also have AIDA64 display whatever computer things you want to monitor, on your smart phone.

FrancoDT · Jan 31, 2026

AllenChicago said:
Greetings Everyone!

On this new PC (HP Omnidesk) there is nothing but a (boring) power button light. On the computer it replaces (2009 HP Pavilion), there was a light showing Hard Drive Activity, and before Windows 10, it had Windows 7, with a really nice widget that was always on the desktop called "CPU Meter". It showed CPU & Hard Drive & RAM usage in real time, with 3 analog speedometer-like gauges.

For WINDOWS 11, is there a recommended desktop widget that launches at startup and can stay on the right side of the screen, displaying real time activity of the P.C. hardware? All helpful guidance is appreciated!

-Allen in the Chicago area 1.31.2026

Search through the Rainmeter section of DeviantArt as they have all kinds of CPU, RAM, Hardrive meters. Some are simple, some are complex depending on what you are looking for and of course you'll have to download the free rainmeter app to run them.

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PerpetualCycle · Jan 31, 2026

Ghot said:
But I bet it can't do this... you can set the OSD to run any font on your computer in any size.

View attachment 161831

You can also have AIDA64 display whatever things you want to monitor on your smart phone.

Well, you definitely can. You can change the font with HWINO64 as well as select any of those values to monitor. And it will give you the current value, average, max and min. It also has many more sensors you can display or chart than AIDA64,

AllenChicago · Feb 1, 2026

Ghot said:
Compact Tray Meter

Download Compact Tray Meter: CPU, RAM & disk drives monitoring utility.

dennisbabkin.com

Scans clean locally and at Virustotal.

View attachment 161817

THANKYOU GHOT. I will go have a look at this utility right now! -Allen

AllenChicago · Feb 1, 2026

Edwin said:
On the rare occasion I need to monitor something, I'll just throw Task Manager into Summary View and pop it in a corner.

Wow. Good idea! I'm going to see if there is a way to have the Task Manager itself display on the screen when the computer starts...and stay there. I don't play games, or use this computer for doing anything more than Twitter, Gmail, YouTube, etc.. If the Task Manager can show the top 5 processes using CPU/RAM/SSD/GPU all the time, in a narrow window on the lower right of this 24 inch monitor, I'm thrilled.

DJNelson · Feb 1, 2026

You can set it up in about five minutes by opening Task Scheduler and creating a task that triggers at startup and is pointed at C:\windows\system32\Taskmgr.exe

FrancoDT · Feb 1, 2026

Couple of my Rainmeter skin layouts for example. They can be positioned on different areas of the desktop.

PerpetualCycle · Feb 1, 2026

FrancoDT said:
Couple of my Rainmeter skin layouts for example. They can be positioned on different areas of the desktop.

View attachment 161918 View attachment 161920

I haven't looked at rainmaker in ages. Will take a fresh peak and see what values it supports. Looks nice.

AllenChicago · Feb 2, 2026

FrancoDT said:
Couple of my Rainmeter skin layouts for example. They can be positioned on different areas of the desktop.

View attachment 161918 View attachment 161920

I LOVE that second layout from Rainmaker...the one with the dials! However, I took the advice EDWIN gave and expanded it to provide what I'm looking for. Now, whenever I restart my P.C. the Task Manager starts and displays on the desktop before I open other programs. I now start the PC, and drink my morning juice, while watching it run processes to get itself ready for the day too. Task Manager is now always running minimized on the task bar. Thanks to everyone who offered advice and guidance! I am now marking this thread as "Mission Accomplished".

-Allen in suburban Chicago

Solved CPU-Drive-RAM Real Time Activity Widget For Windows 11?

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