Keeping Pulse by Zaweba running in the tray all day
Closing Pulse by Zaweba keeps it watching from the tray, and it can start when you sign in, so its history and alerts never miss a minute.
Most of what makes Pulse by Zaweba useful happens while you're not looking at it. The one-minute history, the alerts and the tray icon graph all depend on Pulse running in the background. So it's built to live in the notification area, and it can start on its own when you sign in to Windows.
Closing the window
When you close the main window, Pulse keeps running in the tray. The window itself is really closed, not just hidden, which keeps Pulse light while it sits in the background. Pressing Esc does the same: the window closes while Pulse carries on.
This is worth knowing the first time, because it's different from many programs. Closing the window isn't quitting. If you do want Pulse to stop completely, choose Exit from the tray menu.
The tray menu
Right-click the tray icon for the menu. It has Open Pulse, Temperatures, History, Mini meter, Settings, Send feedback, About and Exit. Temperatures and History open the main window straight on those pages, which saves a step when you know what you're after. Mini meter brings up the small always-on-top window with CPU, RAM, GPU and network.
Starting with Windows
In Settings you'll find Start Pulse when I sign in. Tick it, and Pulse starts in the tray each time you sign in to Windows, without opening its window. It's the setting to choose if you want a complete history, because any time Pulse isn't running is time it can't record.
Only one copy of Pulse runs per Windows session. If you start it again while it's already in the tray, you won't end up with two copies both recording and both sending alerts.
Why it's worth leaving running
The History page is the clearest reason. Pulse records a minute-by-minute history to a file on your PC, kept for 30 days by default, so you can look back at Today, Yesterday or This week and see the top bandwidth and CPU users and the temperature peaks. That record only exists for the time Pulse was running.
Alerts are the other. Temperature, drive health, memory and daily data per app alerts all watch quietly in the background and appear as Windows notifications from the tray icon. If Pulse isn't running, nothing is watching.
It also helps that it's light. On its test PC Pulse used about 0.1 per cent CPU and 70 MB in the background, and it samples less often when no Pulse window is open.
If you share the PC
Start Pulse when I sign in applies to your own Windows sign-in. Each person who wants Pulse running for their account would turn it on for themselves.
A simple set-up
For most people the best arrangement is easy. Turn on Start Pulse when I sign in, leave the tray icon graph on, and close the window whenever you've finished looking. Pulse by Zaweba then keeps its record and its watch all day, and you open it only when you want to know something.
