How to keep track of your machine’s temperature on Windows 7

As a mobile gamer, I always make sure that my laptop’s running temperature is always in check. Windows doesn’t have built-in monitors so I use a free app called Speedfan. In this post I’ll be showing you how you can configure Speedfan to start automatically minimized in the Windows system tray for convenient monitoring. We’ll be using Task Manager, a Windows feature which allows you to create and manage automated ruled based tasks.

Get Speedfan here: http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

Configuring Speedfan

Speedfan is a nifty little tool which does a good job at measuring temperature and setting machine fans accordingly as the heat goes up. Note that your machine should support programmatic control of fans to use that particular feature.

To configure Speedfan to start minimized in the system tray whenever launched:

1. Run Speedfan as an Administrator (Right-click on the Speedfan shortcut) – Speedfan needs elevated privileges to run on Windows 7.

2. Click on Configure, it should take you to the Temperatures tab. Set your Desired and Warning temperatures so Speedfan may adjust fan control favoring these values. As you may only have one temperature value displayed in the system tray, I chose to show my GPU’s temperature as I’ve noticed it’s always the highest in the list.

3. In the Options tab you may set the appearance of the tray icon. I’ve set it to a transparent background with a large white text. Make sure to check start minimized and Minimize on close.

4. Click Ok to save changes. Whenever you close Speedfan now it should minimize to the system tray.

Using Task Scheduler rules to automatically run Speedfan on startup

You might be wondering why you couldn’t just run Speedfan automatically by copying its shortcut to the Startup folder in the Start Menu. This usually works with other programs but since Speedfan needs elevated rights to run properly, we have to make use of Task Scheduler rules as an alternative.

1. You can access the Task Scheduler through these methods:

a. Control Panel –> Administrative Tools –> Task Scheduler

b. Start Menu –> type in Task Scheduler

c. Start Menu –> type in taskschd.msc

2. Click on Create Basic Task. A Basic Task is simply a task created with the help of a wizard.

3. In the Name textbox, type in a distinguishable name for this task. You may leave the description blank. Click Next.

3. Tick When I log on. You may choose to run it in a “service” like mode by setting it to run when the computer starts. Not much use in doing so in most cases. Click Next.

4. Tick Start a program and click next.

5. Click Browse and specify the location of speedfan.exe. By default it is installed in Program Files/Speedfan (Program Files (x86) if you’re running a 64-bit version of Windows).

6. Verify the information in the summary. It should look similar to this:

7. Make sure to check Open the Properties dialog for this task when I click Finish. Click Finish.

8. In the General tab, click on Run with highest privileges. This sets the task to always run with elevated rights. Click on the Conditions tab.

9. Under the Power category, uncheck Start the task only if the computer is on AC power. This ensures that Speedfan isn’t closed whenever a laptop computer is unplugged or a desktop switches to UPS power. As Speedfan isn’t resource intensive, it should be alright to leave it on. Click the Settings tab.

10. Check Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed. Uncheck Stop the task if it runs longer than:. I tend to leave some of my computers on for really long and its important that Speedfan is running even then.

Speedfan should now run at every logon minimized in your system tray.

Notes

• If your GPU doesn’t show up in the Temperatures tab of Speedfan, your installed drivers may not support software monitoring. Try updating to the latest manufacturer drivers.
• It’s a good idea to arrange the Speedfan system tray icon to display last or first for convenient glancing.
• To close Speedfan in the system tray, right-click and select Exit. If you occasionally do and need to run it on demand, set the Speedfan shortcut to automatically run on Administrator by going into Properties –> Compatibility –> check Run this program as an administrator.