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Network Activity Indicator for Windows 7

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4.86/5 (61 votes)
27 Jan 2010CPOL1 min read 706.2K   8.5K   83   74
Displays the old "two monitors" icon in Windows 7 that flashed blue to show network activity on the System Tray.
Network Activity Indicator

Introduction

In Windows XP, I was used to turning on "Show icon in notification area when connected" and Windows would display a blinking icon to indicate network traffic on the System Tray.
In Windows 7, all I can get is a static icon to show I am on a network, no animation to show me the traffic.

I figured out that the animation feature had been removed from Windows 7, so I decided to create a simple application to satisfy those people (including myself) who want to see when data is coming and going on the network.

A long time ago, I developed a small utility called Network Lights which blinks keyboard LEDs (Light Emitting Diode) indicating outgoing and incoming network packets on the network interface. This utility with source code can be found here: www.itsamples.com/network-lights.html. I remade it to control the System Tray icon instead of keyboard LEDs and adapted it to Windows 7 environment.

Using the Code

The core of this program is a separate thread that obtains current TCP, UDP and ICMP statistics and decides which icon should be displayed on the System Tray:

C++
void TCPThread(LPVOID pInfo)
{
	MIB_TCPSTATS  mibTcpStats;
	MIB_UDPSTATS  mibUdpStats;
	MIB_ICMP      mibIcmpStats;

	UINT nCounter = 0;
	DWORD dwSegTcpRcvd = 0;
	DWORD dwSegTcpSent = 0;
	DWORD dwSegUdpRcvd = 0;
	DWORD dwSegUdpSent = 0;
	DWORD dwSegIcmpRcvd = 0;
	DWORD dwSegIcmpSent = 0;
	DWORD dwLocalOutSegs = 0;
	DWORD dwLocalInSegs = 0;

	while(m_bWorkContinue)
	{
		if(m_bSetIconContinue)
		{
			m_dwPacketsSent = 0;
			m_dwPacketsReceived = 0;

			m_bSetIconContinue = FALSE;

			if(m_bDisplayTCP)
			{
				if(GetTcpStatistics(&mibTcpStats) == NO_ERROR)
				{
					dwLocalInSegs = mibTcpStats.dwInSegs;
					dwLocalOutSegs = mibTcpStats.dwOutSegs;

					m_dwPacketsSent += dwLocalOutSegs;
					m_dwPacketsReceived += dwLocalInSegs;

					if(dwLocalOutSegs > dwSegTcpSent && 
						dwLocalInSegs > dwSegTcpRcvd)
					{
						dwSegTcpSent = dwLocalOutSegs;
						dwSegTcpRcvd = dwLocalInSegs;
						SetTrayIcon(NIM_MODIFY, 
							m_hActiveIcon);
						goto done;
					}
					else if(dwLocalOutSegs > dwSegTcpSent && 
						dwLocalInSegs <= dwSegTcpRcvd)
					{
						dwSegTcpSent = dwLocalOutSegs;
						SetTrayIcon
						(NIM_MODIFY, m_hSendIcon);
						goto done;
					}
					else if(dwLocalInSegs > dwSegTcpRcvd && 
						dwLocalOutSegs <= dwSegTcpSent)
					{
						dwSegTcpRcvd = dwLocalInSegs;
						SetTrayIcon(NIM_MODIFY, 
							m_hReceiveIcon);
						goto done;
					}
					else 
						nCounter++;

					if(nCounter == 10)
					{
						nCounter = 0;
						SetTrayIcon(NIM_MODIFY, 
							m_hInactiveIcon);
						goto done;
					}
				}
			}

			if(m_bDisplayUDP)
			{
				if(GetUdpStatistics(&mibUdpStats) == NO_ERROR)
				{
					dwLocalInSegs = mibUdpStats.dwInDatagrams;
					dwLocalOutSegs = mibUdpStats.dwOutDatagrams;

					m_dwPacketsSent += dwLocalOutSegs;
					m_dwPacketsReceived += dwLocalInSegs;

					if(dwLocalOutSegs > dwSegUdpSent && 
						dwLocalInSegs > dwSegUdpRcvd)
					{
						dwSegUdpSent = dwLocalOutSegs;
						dwSegUdpRcvd = dwLocalInSegs;
						SetTrayIcon(NIM_MODIFY, 
							m_hActiveIcon);
						goto done;
					}
					else if(dwLocalOutSegs > dwSegUdpSent && 
						dwLocalInSegs <= dwSegUdpRcvd)
					{
						dwSegUdpSent = dwLocalOutSegs;
						SetTrayIcon(NIM_MODIFY, 
							m_hSendIcon);
						goto done;
					}
					else if(dwLocalInSegs > dwSegUdpRcvd && 
						dwLocalOutSegs <= dwSegUdpSent)
					{
						dwSegUdpRcvd = dwLocalInSegs;
						SetTrayIcon(NIM_MODIFY, 
							m_hReceiveIcon);
						goto done;
					}
					else 
						nCounter++;

					if(nCounter == 10)
					{
						nCounter = 0;
						SetTrayIcon(NIM_MODIFY, 
							m_hInactiveIcon);
						goto done;
					}
				}
			}

			if(m_bDisplayICMP)
			{
				if(GetIcmpStatistics(&mibIcmpStats) == NO_ERROR)
				{
					dwLocalInSegs = 
					mibIcmpStats.stats.icmpInStats.dwMsgs;
					dwLocalOutSegs = 
					mibIcmpStats.stats.icmpOutStats.dwMsgs;

					m_dwPacketsSent += dwLocalOutSegs;
					m_dwPacketsReceived += dwLocalInSegs;

					if(dwLocalOutSegs > dwSegIcmpSent && 
						dwLocalInSegs > dwSegIcmpRcvd)
					{
						dwSegIcmpSent = dwLocalOutSegs;
						dwSegIcmpRcvd = dwLocalInSegs;
						SetTrayIcon(NIM_MODIFY, 
							m_hActiveIcon);
						goto done;
					}
					else if(dwLocalOutSegs > dwSegIcmpSent && 
						dwLocalInSegs <= dwSegIcmpRcvd)
					{
						dwSegIcmpSent = dwLocalOutSegs;
						SetTrayIcon(NIM_MODIFY, 
							m_hSendIcon);
						goto done;
					}
					else if(dwLocalInSegs > dwSegIcmpRcvd && 
						dwLocalOutSegs <= dwSegIcmpSent)
					{
						dwSegIcmpRcvd = dwLocalInSegs;
						SetTrayIcon(NIM_MODIFY, 
							m_hReceiveIcon);
						goto done;
					}
					else 
						nCounter++;

					if(nCounter == 10)
					{
						nCounter = 0;
						SetTrayIcon(NIM_MODIFY, 
							m_hInactiveIcon);
						goto done;
					}
				}
			}
done:
			m_bSetIconContinue = TRUE;
		}

		Sleep(m_nDuration);
	}

	m_hTcpThread = NULL;
}

Unlike the original Windows XP utility (that has individual indicators for each interface), this program indicates outgoing and incoming network packets on all available interfaces.

History

  • Initial post: November 20, 2009
  • Updated: January 14, 2010

    Version 1.2 allows you to display ICMP and UDP packets, show selected Network Interface traffic in bytes, use Vista-styled icons, and access the "Network Connections", "Windows Firewall" and "Network and Sharing Center" applets directly.

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Software Developer (Senior)
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Comments and Discussions

 
QuestionThank you:) Pin
Member 123783188-Mar-16 7:55
Member 123783188-Mar-16 7:55 
QuestionNetwork Status Pin
Member 2917154-Sep-13 0:24
Member 2917154-Sep-13 0:24 
QuestionAny chance? Pin
Member 833118513-Jul-13 20:31
Member 833118513-Jul-13 20:31 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
Member 833118513-Jul-13 20:27
Member 833118513-Jul-13 20:27 
QuestionWhen they took this away... Pin
Member 833118513-Jul-13 20:20
Member 833118513-Jul-13 20:20 
QuestionNetwork Activity Indicator for Windows 7 Pin
VaKa11-Apr-13 4:36
VaKa11-Apr-13 4:36 
Question64-bit version Pin
gauravkale14-Mar-13 3:09
gauravkale14-Mar-13 3:09 
QuestionSleep( X ) Pin
Blake Miller30-Nov-12 9:55
Blake Miller30-Nov-12 9:55 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
gndnet27-Jul-12 10:30
gndnet27-Jul-12 10:30 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
Metoo_nz27-Jan-12 16:33
Metoo_nz27-Jan-12 16:33 
QuestionInternet connectivity Pin
gauravkale18-Nov-11 1:52
gauravkale18-Nov-11 1:52 
GeneralGreat solution! Pin
tuckertje19-Oct-11 22:12
tuckertje19-Oct-11 22:12 
QuestionExcellent idea but... Pin
brakto17-Aug-11 7:52
brakto17-Aug-11 7:52 
QuestionWonderful! Any chance of the globe icon? Pin
Member 815486811-Aug-11 13:04
Member 815486811-Aug-11 13:04 
QuestionThanks for this...great stuff Pin
baseman119-Jul-11 11:39
baseman119-Jul-11 11:39 
GeneralThank you, spacibo! Pin
Member 80550463-Jul-11 10:11
Member 80550463-Jul-11 10:11 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
Sahir Shah2-Jul-11 8:33
Sahir Shah2-Jul-11 8:33 
GeneralWonderful Pin
Member 794397721-May-11 22:24
Member 794397721-May-11 22:24 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
usbchris21-May-11 3:34
usbchris21-May-11 3:34 
GeneralMessage Closed Pin
5-Feb-18 21:01
Member 136632305-Feb-18 21:01 
GeneralExcellent! Pin
whawn26-Apr-11 9:12
whawn26-Apr-11 9:12 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
Scott Wichall27-Feb-11 22:45
Scott Wichall27-Feb-11 22:45 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
Waleed Eissa20-Feb-11 2:02
Waleed Eissa20-Feb-11 2:02 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
gndnet16-Dec-10 14:21
gndnet16-Dec-10 14:21 
GeneralAnother 5 vote from me! Pin
code_junkie2-Dec-10 3:46
code_junkie2-Dec-10 3:46 

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