Sometimes, less is more--then again, less is sometimes exactly as it is.
Newer technology, particularly with computers, is always evolving, hopefully making their use easier for the user. However, with newer computer equipment, it seems, that manufacturers are assuming that feedback from the computers should be "assumed"--that is, if a piece of equipment is functioning (e. g., a hard drive, keyboard, or what-have-you) that you also "presume" (read as: consider/think/pray) that the equipment is working--without any indication it is (or is not).
Case in point: I recently upgraded my computer from an IDE-based hard drive to a SATA-based one. The case housing had indicator lights for my old drive, but, when I had to use a SATA-to-IDE adapter for my older motherboard, I lost the ability to determine whether or not I had any hard drive activity, because the new hard drive adapter had no provision to access the computer's hard drive indicator light.
So, what did I do?
I looked for an alternative way to monitor my new hard drive's activity: TrayStatus.
TrayStatus, in version 1.2.3 (freeware) for all versions of Windows, is a collection of utilities that allows the user to "see" the activities of devices which may not have indicator lights--in this case, TrayStatus has a Caps Lock, a Num Lock, a Scroll Lock, as well as WIN, ALT, and SHIFT key status indicator functions, and, a hard drive activity indicator--the latter, being the utility within TrayStatus which I use.
Each utility element within the program can be used to activate a representational icon, displayed on the Windows task bar, off or on, depending upon the needs of the user, through the use of TrayStatus' Settings menu; the hard drive indicator also has the ability to tailor the hard drive access activity visualization (read/write threshold) to the needs of the user, as well.
The functionality of the program is contained in a small 632 KB file, and works as it is designed to do: indicate to the user, through designated icons on the Windows task bar, what functionalities on the keyboard--or the hard drive are active/inactive.
So, if a user has equipment that does not display the workings of a keyboard or a hard drive, and the user wants to be aware of the hardware's activity, then this freeware "suite" program, from www.binaryfortress.com, will not betray that interest.
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