Introduction
This tool displays information about system resources and settings. It uses the WMI instrumentation for the queries. At the moment, the following system information is available for display:
- Free memory
- Free disk space
- IP-adresses
- subnetmask
- MAC-adresses
- Default gateway
- Host name
- User
- Boot date
- OS version
- Service Pack
Further features:
- Freely positionable on the desktop
- Transparent background
- Modifiable font settings
- Modifiable refresh time
Background
I came up with the idea of writing this program because I wasn't satisfied with the possibilities of a related program from sysinternals called bginfo. I wanted to be able to position the tool on any place on the desktop. Another annoying thing was that any fullscreen program like mediaplayer was restored to windowed mode when the tool made a refresh.
So I hope some of you folks might fancy this tool. As I'm just a beginner with C#, you shouldn't expect too much with regard to the code. Any suggestions, corrections or improvements are very welcome!
Using the Program
The first time you start the program, you have to set up the information to be displayed.
The right row shows the available functions. You can add them to the active function list by double-clicking. Or remove them from the active list also by double-clicking. You can add an individual title to each active function. Just select the function, write a title in the left title field and assign the title by clicking the arrow button beside it.
The functions will be displayed in the order in which they show up in the list. You can change the order with the arrow buttons on the bottom of the form.
Text color and font type apply to the whole form.
You can test your settings with the test button. 'Restore' restores the settings to the last saved state.
Apply the settings and close the form with the 'apply' button.
If want to change settings later, just double-click the gadget or right-click on it:
Points of Interest
I first wrote a single language version in German just for myself and some friends of mine. Later I thought it might be useful for other people, too. So I had to integrate at least English as a second language. It was a bit difficult and would have been easier if I had done so from the beginning.
I adopted most of the ideas for the code from examples on programming websites like this here. So thanks to all the programmers out there for publishing their ideas and knowledge!
History
- WMI Info 1.0 2nd Feb. 2009
- WMI Info 2.0 6th Feb. 2009
- WMI Info 2.1 3rd Mar. 2009
- Displaying multiple network connections and their names (compatible with Windows 7) 9th Jul. 2009
- Updated demo and source files 4th Oct. 2009
- Posted new article on Code Project: SYSInfo: System Info Desktop Tool
