Resource Monitor Explained

Resource Monitor, a utility in Windows Vista and later, displays information about the use of hardware (CPU, memory, disk, and network) and software (file handles and modules) resources in real time.^[1] Users can launch Resource Monitor by executing resmon.exe (perfmon.exe in Windows Vista).

The Vista and later Resource Monitor heavily leverages the Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) facilities introduced in Windows 7;^[2] the counter setup (event tracing session) used by the Resource Monitor can provide logging as well.^[3]

Features

The Resource Monitor window includes five tabs:^[4]

• Overview
• CPU

displays column lists of Processes, Services, Associated Handles and Associated Modules; charts of CPU Usage (separate for every core)

• Memory

displays overall Physical Memory consumption and separate consumption of every Process; charts of Used Physical Memory, Commit Charge and Hard Faults/sec

• Disk

displays Processes with Disk Activity and Storage; charts of Disk Usage (KB/sec) and Disk Queue Length

• Network

displays Processes with Network Activity, TCP Connections and Listening Ports; charts of Network Usage (separate for every adapter) and TCP Connections

Ways to start the application

• Choose Start→Type to search "Resource Monitor".
• Start Windows Task Manager→select Performance tab→Click the "Open Resource Monitor" link at the lower left corner.
• Choose Start→All Programs→Accessories→System Tools→Resource Monitor.
• %windir%\system32\perfmon.exe /res
• %windir%\system32\resmon.exe

See also

• Activity Monitor in macOS
• System Monitor was available on Windows 95, 95 OSR, 95 OSR2, 98, 98SE, ME
• Performance Monitor introduced in Windows NT

Notes and References

1. Book: Tulloch. Mitch. Northrup. Tony. Tony Northrup. Honeycutt. Jerry. Wilson. Ed. Windows 7 Resource Kit. October 7, 2009. Pearson Education. 2009. 9780735642775. June 3, 2014. The Resource Overview screen of the Reliability and Performance Monitor Control Panel item in Windows Vista has become a separate tool in Windows 7 called Resource Monitor [...]..
2. Web site: Getting Started with Performance Tracing Part 1 Event Tracing for Windows Demystified. TechNet. Microsoft. November 4, 2013. Michael. Waterman. dead. https://archive.today/20131218150441/http://blogs.technet.com/b/michw/archive/2013/11/04/getting-started-with-performance-tracing-part-1-event-tracing-for-windows-demystified.aspx. December 18, 2013.
3. Web site: How to pull the information that Resource Monitor (ResMon.exe) provides?. TechNet. Microsoft. January 4, 2011.
4. Web site: How to Use Resource Monitor. October 14, 2011. Justin. Phelps. PC World. IDG.