------- PROGRAM ------- CPUMETER.EXE 1/1/91 Copyright (c) 1991, by Michael C. Robert. All rights reserved. ------- PURPOSE ------- Find out how much of your CPU is getting gobbled up by the applications running on your system. ------- VERSION ------- 1.00 Beta. (Yeah, that's right, beta. I sincerely hope that it doesn't crash your machine. Really, I do. (Just kidding!)) ------ AUTHOR ------ Michael C. Robert 13 Mansfield St. #3 Allston, MA 02134 (617) 782-2424 ---------------- SHAREWARE NOTICE ---------------- This product is Shareware. You are free to evaluate it for 30 days, but thereafter you are required to send a $15 remittance to the AUTHOR. With this you will become a registered user, and will also make the AUTHOR very happy, help put his kid through college, etc. etc. What do you get for being a registered user? Well, um, I, ah, hmmm. Let's see... First off you get a personal and unique entry in my database. Yeah, yeah, and then... Hmmm. Oh, yeah, if I write any more programs, which I probably won't do if you don't send the remittance (plug, plug), then I'll drop you a postcard letting you know about them. I'll also send you information on updates to the program and the upgrade fee if you want me to send you a disk. Also, feel free to pass around the ZIP file to your favorite friends and fiends, and to upload it to the BBSs you subscribe to, PROVIDED that the following files are all and the only ones included and that they have not been modified in any way: README.TXT and CPUMETER.EXE. ----------- BETA NOTICE ----------- Since this release is a Beta, any unique bugs you report will entitle you to a FREE registration (ooooo, ahhhhh), and a free copy of the final 1.00 version. --------------------- WARRANTY & DISCLAIMER --------------------- This product is sold AS IS, and provides no inherent warranty. It'll do what I designed it to do, which may not agree with what YOU think it should do. But if you drop me a line, I'll give your suggestions consideration. If I incorporate them, you get an honorable mention in the About Box, as well as a free copy of the new release. (But only if you are a previously registered user (plug, plug)). The AUTHOR makes it known that he will not be responsible for any damages incurred during the use of this product. I.E., if through MISUSE, it somehow mangles your computer and/or data, which it won't do by itself, by the way, then don't come to me with your problems. This especially applies to any third party DLL's not directly supplied with this product. Okay, Nasty Mode Off. --------- FILE LIST --------- File Purpose ---- ------- README.TXT This text file CPUMETER.EXE The CPU Meter application. ------------ INSTALLATION ------------ Install all the files listed above into the same directory that Windows is installed into, or if you want, install it in another directory that is listed in your PATH statement. If you modify your PATH statement, don't forget to reboot. ---------- INVOKATION ---------- Run CPUMETER.EXE as you would any other Windows application. The perfered method of running the application is to have it invoked automatically each time you log in. See below. If you want CPUMETER to be run automatically every time you start another windows session or re-invoke the program, add the filename CPUMETER.EXE to the LOAD= line in the [Windows] section of the WIN.INI section. If you are unsure of how to go about this, look it up in the Windows User's Guide. The first time you run CPUMETER you will be told that it is "Calibrating". This means that the application is figuring out how fast your CPU is running Windows in the current configuration you have selected. If you change your configuration and/or add new hardware, you should recalibrate CPUMETER. ************ * * * WARNING: * * * ************ While the calibration is in progress, you should not do ANYTHING with the computer, like type at the keyboard or move the mouse, and in addition, you should have no other applications running, especially DOS sessions. -------- GLOSSARY -------- CPUMETER Refers to the main application program, CPUMETER.EXE, while it is running. ----------- LIMITATIONS ----------- Because Windows does not time-slice its applications, it is impossible to be completely accurate measuring the load on the CPU. CPUMETER goes a long way to trying to be accurate, but it can't do it 100%. Also, because of the above, another Windows application can hog the whole CPU for many seconds, if it wasn't written properly, and so CPUMETER will report 0% or some other number and freeze there, even though, (and actually because), the other application is running and obviously chewing up CPU time. Unfortunately, there is no way for CPUMETER to detect that some snobby program is going to heist your CPU for an unfashionably long interval, so you will have to live with this limitation forever. (Or at least until "they" release a time-slicing version of Windows that allows its applications to have separate threads running. Ha, try to get them to do that, why don't you. Go ahead, try calling them and suggesting the above as a possible feature in the next release. Go ahead, try it. Know what they'll tell you? Buy OS/2. Yep, that's good 'ol Microsoft marketting strategy for you. Now if *I* were King for a day...) ---- BUGS ---- What? Bugs??? My software has bugs???????? You must be incorrectly interpretting a feature. ------ THANKS ------ Thanks. ----------- Windows is a Trademark of Microsoft, Inc.