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LED indicator for hard drive loading. TrayStatus - a convenient indicator of hard disk activity and more How to make an analog hard disk loading indicator

A long time ago, everyone desktop computers and laptops had LEDs that blinked when hard drive activity was detected. Over time, computer manufacturers decided that this was not necessary, but I disagree: if the computer suddenly does not respond, it can help to find out if there are disk accesses. If there is, it may just be a temporary delay. If not, then you will know to restart your computer.

There are other advantages to having such an indicator, of course, but computers are becoming less and less equipped with it. Fortunately, there is a software solution: TrayStatus - free utility for Windows from BinaryFortress.


TrayStatus actually offers a number of monitoring functions, most of which reflect information about the status of the keyboard. So you can see the icon light up when you press, say, Caps Lock or Num Lock. For our purposes, however, let's focus on the hard drive indicator.

Step 1: Download, install and run TrayStatus. ( Latest version, 2.0, includes Windows support 10.)

Step 2: Find the TrayStatus icon in the system tray, click on it right click mouse and select "TrayStatus Settings".

Step 3: Make sure the "Show" checkbox is checked Hard Drive Activity", click "OK".



Step 4: You should see the TrayStatus hard drive icon in the system tray. It will flash green when reading and red when writing. However, by default, this new icon is usually hidden in the system tray, and is only accessible by clicking the arrow, which is hardly convenient. In this case, you can delve into Windows settings, as described in the following steps.

Step 5: On Windows 10 (this process may be slightly different in more earlier versions), click Start > Settings. Then select "System", then "Notifications & Actions".



Step 6: Click the "Select the icons that appear in the taskbar" link and then scroll down until you find "TrayStatus Hard Drive." Click on the toggle switch to set it to "On". (Here you can also enable other TrayStatus indicators).

Disk Activity Indicator is free, simple and portable program for a computer, which is an indicator of hard drive activity.

Unfortunately, modern personal computers and laptops are not equipped with simple, but at the same time convenient and familiar tools for monitoring the system and individual hardware components, one of which is monitoring the activity of the hard drive. Therefore, if you need to monitor disk activity, you can use the Disk Activity Indicator program for this.

As already noted, this program does not require installation on the system ( portable version) and after launch, places a small indicator in the tray (notification area), which shows the current disk activity. By right-clicking on the icon, a settings window will open. Here you can select the required disk (partition) for monitoring, specify the display interval, change the alert icons and set the program to start along with the start of the operating system. Additionally offered detailed information about the disk itself: size, manufacturer, label and other characteristics. Plus, the program has a Russian-language interface. That's all - simple, convenient and clear.

Buy HDD may be required for various reasons: the volume of the old disk is too small, the device is broken, you need an additional, portable disk, etc. Before purchasing, decide which device you need and with what characteristics.

External drives (HDD)

A portable hard drive is usually used to store large amounts of information and backup. This screw is small in size and easily connects to the computer. When choosing, you need to focus on the amount of memory (1,2,3 or 4 TB (terabytes) - the more, the better, but the higher the price. The form factor is no less important. If you need an external hard drive for a desktop computer, choose model 3 .5". For laptops, the 2.5" option is suitable. The performance of a portable hard drive is influenced by data such as buffer memory and spindle speed. The higher these indicators, the better.

SSD drives

These devices work much faster than conventional magnetic hard drives. Here it is also important to decide on the volume - for a regular, non-gaming PC, a 128 GB model is suitable. Pay attention to the speed of reading information, as well as the type of memory - MLC (more popular) or TLC (economical option with a small resource).

The Indicator online store offers you a wide selection hard drives from leading manufacturers:

  • SiliconPower (Silicon Paver)
  • Kingston
  • Toshiba
  • Western Digital (Western Digital)
  • Seagate
  • CRUCIAL
  • Corsair (Corsair)
  • HITACHI (Hitachi)
  • Plextor (Plextor)
  • Patriot (Patriot).

You can buy a hard drive to solve any problem in all Indicator stores in Simferopol, Sevastopol, Evpatoria, Dzhankoy, Yalta, Krasnoperekopsk, Feodosia, Kerch and Saki. We provide fast delivery throughout Crimea, as well as a warranty on the product from the manufacturer.

Quote: “I bring to your attention another option on how to make an original hard drive loading indicator. It is based on changes in voltage in the circuit, and converts these jumps into discrete values.”

Led indicator
loading hard drive -y for help
in creating a flash video

Introduction

I’ll make a reservation right away: I’m not a modder, so I didn’t follow the canons of the genre. I am primarily interested in functionality; I care little about the aesthetic side.

I bring to your attention another option on how to make an original hard drive loading indicator. It is based on changes in voltage in a circuit, and converts these changes into discrete values.

What you will need for this:

Radio constructor "LED level indicator". In Voronezh you can buy it for 55 rubles, which I do not recommend, since it is equipped with rather dim LEDs and is not worth the money. The only useful thing is printed circuit board. Parts will cost 15 rubles.

It is advisable to purchase a 2-10 kOhm trimmer resistor instead of R1.

LEDs (minimum 5 pieces).

Molex power connector (female). I combined my circuit with an existing device, so I didn’t need it. You can use any power connection method.

When connecting the circuit to 12 V, it is advisable to run the LEDs through resistors. It depends on what kind of LEDs you use - five-volt ones are unlikely to need resistors, but 3 V ones most likely will.

Wires, insulation/heat shrink, soldering iron (no more powerful than 40 W), soldering accessories, etc.

Notes

It all depends on the LEDs that you are going to use (each crazy person has his own program :-), more precisely on their price. Personally, I used an LED line for 32 rubles. In total, all this cost me 90 rubles, and for me, the mod is worth the money.

In general, I want to say that this radio designer is not ideal - the more LEDs glow, the dimmer they glow. The problem is partially solved by increasing the voltage (12 V instead of 5 V) and connecting the LEDs through resistors (470-510 Ohms). But no one forbids you to try another similar indicator - for example, you can search in “CHIP and DIP”. So there is a lot of room for further development here.

This circuit provides 5 discrete levels of indication. We can see something similar to this in the Winamp visualization in the “Spectrum Analyzer” mode.

Of course, many people have the first desire to adapt this product for music, BUT... Since I have enough indicators for music (and sounds in general), because instead of speakers I use the center, and it has a 7-band equalizer, and even in Winamp" We don’t have one, so we won’t go into pop music and slightly diversify the scope of application.

The mod is quite simple and cheap to implement, especially for those who have been dealing with radio electronics for a long time. Let's assume that everyone knows the soldering phase (editor's note: those who don't know, read) - that is, they soldered the circuit, adjusted the power supply, distributed the LEDs by color and pins (be careful - the circuit is non-standard!) - so let's move on to the first test.

If you buy a radio designer, you should get something like this

Why "something" - because I slightly modified the diagram. I connected the blue LED so that it was lit constantly (that is, separate from the circuit). It symbolizes the “cold” boot of the hard drive, that is, the zero level. I combined LEDs 2 and 3 into level 1, and LEDs 4 and 5 into level 2. I could initially use an LED strip with 5 LEDs, but I made the mod with an eye to the future, if I suddenly find a circuit for 7-8 LEDs, for more accurate indication. The white electrolytic capacitor is not present in the original circuit; in mine it acts as a voltage stabilizer.

Connecting the power

Hint: If you hold only the positive input with your fingers, then perhaps the first or second level will light up. This means that the scheme is working.

Now we try to connect the inputs parallel to the HDD Led (that is, usually the red dim LED, but you already have it DIFFERENT, right?). My LED is connected through a special connector (white in the picture on the right), so connecting the indicator was not difficult. Those who have LEDs soldered and insulated will have to tinker a little.

Here was the first surprise. Initially I wanted to use 5V power, but this circuit had one drawback (see above). When connecting the circuit to 12V (and adding resistors to the LEDs), the inputs connected to the HDD Led gave reverse currents, and made this same HDD Led glow at full intensity. Perhaps due to the fact that I have a sensitive red LED (with which I replaced the original dim one). By removing the input ground from the diagram, I got the desired result. This is even better - less wires. If everything works fine for you with 2 wires connected, then leave it like that. (In the picture, the remaining input is the blue wire going to the red wire in the connector)

I would like to note that this mod is not a complete replacement, but an addition to the main indicator. If HDD Led shows (relatively speaking) the channel load level (how large volumes of data are transferred), then the peak indicator displays how often (at what speed) data is transferred over the channel. If you do not need to monitor the hard drive, then you can leave only the new indicator. Personally, I now have both indicators on the front of the system unit (for reference, the height of my LED line is 4 cm).

Adjustment

Most likely your tuning resistor is small and without a handle, so here we arm ourselves with a small (narrow) screwdriver and start driving the hard drive. Personally, I took as a basis the operations of archiving small files (web pages), archiving large files (clips, for example), watching a movie through Windows Media Player, copying from one logical drive to another within a physical medium. You can also try copying from one hard drive to another, or run Scandisk. We look at how the hard drive behaves, twist the resistor to set the oscillation range of the indicator. In general terms, the point is to create different situations: low hard drive load (small volume in rare portions) and heavy load hard drive (large volume, almost continuous flow). In the first case, the peak indicator should twitch at level 1-2, in the second case, levels 1-4 will light almost constantly, and level 5 will light or blink. Where to place the LEDs, circuit, etc. - that is, aesthetic issues - this already depends on everyone’s imagination. Personally, I hid the circuit in the front box, and brought out the LEDs on the left side (with a scope for the future - on the right I want to make a similar circuit for the Mobile Rack).

Illustration of work

Full load

HDD LED indicator in operation

High load Average load Low load Zero load

Additionally

Advantages of this mod

1. Conceptually new element in design - a great addition to any technogenic computer

2. Some usefulness. Having two indicators has already helped me several times. For example, do not reboot the computer again (there was a suspicion that it was frozen - but the indicator twitched - and after 5 minutes the machine recovered!). Or, on the contrary, feel free to press Reset - the loading LED was constantly on, and the peak was at zero - a sure sign of hang

3. Originality

Flaws

1. The one that was described above in the article - the voltage is distributed among all working LEDs. However, at high voltages this is not so noticeable. And the pulsation gives “liveness” to the modified (and genetically altered:-) computer.

2. The very first question of everyone to whom I showed the mod: “Does it react to your music?” TIRED, honestly

Has it ever happened to you: you leave the computer, and after a few minutes you come back - and the activity indicator hard drive flashes. What is he doing there? It looks, of course, very suspicious.

But in reality, there is most likely no need to worry. Computers with standard Windows settings they do this all the time. Although, of course, the possibility of infection cannot be ruled out, so checking the system with an antivirus for your own peace of mind will not hurt.

The computer waits politely for its turn

In reality, the computer is not at all trying to do nasty things secretly from the owner. On the contrary, he tries to be smart and polite. Windows needs to run a variety of utility tasks in the background, and the system waits patiently for idle time (that is, for the user to leave) to run them. This ensures that computer resources are not wasted on extraneous matters when the user needs them for work. When the system is actively used, background service processes are suspended to maintain performance.

So it's not a figment of the imagination: Windows actually waits for downtime to begin maintenance. And when the user returns, the execution of service tasks usually stops, so it is usually not possible to find out why the hard drive activity indicator was blinking during inactivity. Windows Scheduler gives you the ability to configure a task to run exclusively during idle time, and many tasks run this way.

What does the computer do when it is idle?

But what exactly is the computer doing in the background? The specific set of tasks depends on the system settings and installed programs, but we can list the most common options.

File indexing. All modern OS equipped with a file indexing function. They check each file (including its contents) and create a database, which then instantly returns search results. For search to work, the indexing service must regularly monitor file changes, which may account for hard drive activity when idle.

Disk Defragmenter. In Windows times 98 for successful hard defragmentation disk had to close all other programs. Modern Windows versions They defragment automatically in the background, but only when idle.

Scheduled anti-virus scanning. Many antivirus programs and other security tools are configured by default to regularly scan the system automatically. Perhaps the activity of the hard drive is explained by the fact that the antivirus is checking the files stored on it.

Backup. If automatic backup(and it should be turned on!), hard drive activity may be caused by the process of archiving files.

Automatic update. Windows itself and many programs such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, equipped with a function automatic update. If the computer is busy with something while idle, it is quite possible that it is downloading and installing updates.

Of course, this is by no means full list. There can be an infinite number of options, depending on the specific set of installed programs. For example, if the background is open Steam client and an update has just been released for one of the games, the activity of the hard drive can be explained by the download and installation of this update. Programs for downloading files, such as BitTorrent clients, can also cause disk activity.

How to find out what programs are using the disk when idle

In theory, everything is clear, but how do you find out what the computer does in practice? First of all, if you suspect an infection, you should scan your system with a reliable antivirus, without relying solely on the built-in tools. But if you just want to track disk activity, you can do that too.

You can find out which processes are using the disk using the Task Manager and Resource Monitor built into Windows. This is especially true if the disk activity indicator is constantly blinking, and the computer's performance has dropped for some unknown reason.

To open Task Manager, right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager or press the ++ keys. In Windows 8, disk load is displayed directly in the Task Manager - you can click on the Disk column to sort processes by this parameter and see which one is using the disk the most.

There is no such option in Windows 7, so you need to open the “Performance” tab and click the “Open Resource Monitor” link. In the Resource Monitor window, go to the “Disk” tab and you will see a list of processes that can be sorted by disk load. By the way, in Windows 8/8.1, the Resource Monitor also provides much more information than the Task Manager.

To track disk activity over time, you can use the Process Monitor program from SysInternals, a developer of useful utilities that advanced users love so much. Windows users. You can start Process Monitor and leave it running while you are idle. Then, when you return to your computer, you can see exactly which processes were using the hard drive in your absence.

Process Monitor logs any activity, but you can use the buttons on the panel to filter the list so that only events related to file system. For example, in the screenshot below you can see that disk activity is caused by file indexing.

Process Monitor is good because it can show past activity. Even if a process stops using the disk or exits altogether, information about it remains in the log. But it is hardly worth using this utility constantly, because recording events also creates a load on the system and, as a result, reduces performance. You should also understand that Process Monitor keeps an event log only while it is running: if you launch it after a surge in hard drive activity, you will no longer be able to find out what exactly caused it.