Macos - Activity Monitor

[Dave2002]

I used to be able to keep a small image of the Macos Activity Monitor lurking around in the Dock - very useful for spotting memory and/or CPU issues. Tried to do it again today, and several attempts seem to have failed.

If anyone knows where the Activity Monitor has gone - it's in my Utilities folder - but I can't lock it into a Dock icon - I'd be glad to know. I can see it full screen or in a large window, but then I can't actually see/use the program I'm using the monitor to test. Clever!

Perhaps we have grown too used to assuming that everything just works, so given up on monitoring.

Yesterday I finally got round to reinstalling a WiFi survey tool on the laptop, as we seem to get too many problems with WiFi in this house.

This hasn't solved all the problems, that will require more work - but has shown that leaving the BT router on the window sill right by the incoming cable is about the worst possible location. The tool - NetSpot - also shows that some of the repeaters which I put in are actually working - which surprises me a bit. I may try to put some kit in the loft, where it might actually be more helpful at providing good coverage. So there's an example of where monitoring can help to diagnose, and possibly, in the fullness of time, improve or solve problems.

https://www.netspotapp.com/

I was disappointed with the App stores though - as looking for WiFi meters tends to discover speed tests - which are useful - but not the same. What is really required is a signal strength and quality meter - and Netspot seems to do those functions OK.

[Count Boso]

I'm not sure what the problem is with the activity monitor, Dave2002. I dragged and dropped it into the dock from Utilities. Admittedly, there was no option to Keep in Dock, just Remove from Dock, but I restarted the computer and it was still there, and worked.

[MrGongGong]

I'm not sure what the problem is with the activity monitor, Dave2002. I dragged and dropped it into the dock from Utilities. Admittedly, there was no option to Keep in Dock, just Remove from Dock, but I restarted the computer and it was still there, and worked.

For me also

I tend to have it open most of the time anyway particularly when I'm doing intensive things with multiple applications

[Dave2002]

For me also

I tend to have it open most of the time anyway particularly when I'm doing intensive things with multiple applications

Thanks. Now got it working again, but it does seem to be necessary to drag and drop it into the Dock. With other applications there is often an option to keep the app (or the app icon) in the Dock when it is active and an icon shows up there.

I used to prefer the icons in earlier versions of Macos, such as the memory usage shown as a pie chart even in the Dock icon. If I were using a desktop machine I'd be inclined to have the Activity Monitor open all the while - as suggested - but with my 13 inch laptop that takes up too much screen space to be convenient.

I'm assuming that the four pillars of CPU activity refer to the four cores in my processor -

[Beresford]

I was disappointed with the App stores though - as looking for WiFi meters tends to discover speed tests - which are useful - but not the same. What is really required is a signal strength and quality meter - and Netspot seems to do those functions OK.

I found a PC tool called inSSIDer (home version) invaluable for testing wifi strength, routers, etc. We have some very thick walls.
I also found out the hard way that the wifi extender doesn't remember it's settings after an overnight power cut.