Solved Does anyone know a windows 7 gadget to monitor a UPS on the desktop

[crankypenguin]

I have a Uninterruptible power supply by APC, model - Back-Ups RS 1500G. It comes with powerchute software but I was wondering if there is perhaps a desktop gadget that could monitor two things, if its on battery power or AC and the battery charge % level. The simpler the better. Thank you in advance.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

If the software CD that came with your UPS doesn't have an option for a desktop gadget or tray icon for monitoring the UPS (my Cyberpower UPS came with both plus its website had an additional, simpler one that I prefer), you might try e-mailing APC to see if they might have one you can download (I didn't find one on their website but then, I'm old and blind).

Macrium Reflect Free (do not download from the homepage; this page is safer to download from). Here is a good tutorial on how to use Macrium Reflect.

 

[Ranger4]

Lady Fitzgerald, does your UPS have a USB connecting cable as well as the power lead?.

I have an MGE UPS that is now a few years old & it came with software & a USB cable that plugged into it & my desktop. This enables me to be able to check how charged the UPS battery is & if it is running on battery how long I have until it shuts down.

 

[crankypenguin]

I have my UPS connected to my pc and sure the software monitors it. But to open software I have to input password and I would just like a simple desktop gadget to show Battery Capacity and AC/Battery operation. Maybe I will try to create a LCD monitor for my keyboard.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Lady Fitzgerald, does your UPS have a USB connecting cable as well as the power lead?.

I have an MGE UPS that is now a few years old & it came with software & a USB cable that plugged into it & my desktop. This enables me to be able to check how charged the UPS battery is & if it is running on battery how long I have until it shuts down.

Yes. The USB cable is necessary for the UPS to hibernate the computer after the power has gone south (either five minutes after the power went bye-bye or five minutes before the UPS battery goes bye-bye, depending on how I set it). It also provides the information the computer needs to monitor the state of the UPS, such as charging state, running time at current battery charge, input voltage, previous events (power outage or buck or boost), etc.

My particular unit came with Business software that didn't play well with IE10 (it had to go online to make settings and couldn't when I upgraded to IE10) but I found a Home version on Cyberpower's website that is far easier to use and isn't overkill like the Business version was. When using the Business version, one could connect to and control two computers via RS-232 (only 1 USB port is provided and you can't mix USB and RS-232).

The Home version can have an icon in the tray I can click on to see what is going on with the UPS. It also pops up messages during an event, such as power outage (although the UPS beeping its little ole heart out is a dead giveaway), USB is disconnected, etc. I could leave the window open on my desktop if I wanted but I don't. There also is a gadget that can be installed on the desktop but I didn't keep it (I tried it out of curiosity) since I didn't feel it was necessary; clicking on the icon every once in a while and the popups are plenty for me. Btw, M$ has been discouraging the use of gadgets for security reasons.

@ crankypenguin. Again, I suggest you contact APC to see if they have a gadget available, either as a separate download or hidden in your current software, or if there is a way to bypass the password requirement.

 

[crankypenguin]

Lady Fitzgerald, does your UPS have a USB connecting cable as well as the power lead?.

I have an MGE UPS that is now a few years old & it came with software & a USB cable that plugged into it & my desktop. This enables me to be able to check how charged the UPS battery is & if it is running on battery how long I have until it shuts down.

Yes. The USB cable is necessary for the UPS to hibernate the computer after the power has gone south (either five minutes after the power went bye-bye or five minutes before the UPS battery goes bye-bye, depending on how I set it). It also provides the information the computer needs to monitor the state of the UPS, such as charging state, running time at current battery charge, input voltage, previous events (power outage or buck or boost), etc.

My particular unit came with Business software that didn't play well with IE10 (it had to go online to make settings and couldn't when I upgraded to IE10) but I found a Home version on Cyberpower's website that is far easier to use and isn't overkill like the Business version was. When using the Business version, one could connect to and control two computers via RS-232 (only 1 USB port is provided and you can't mix USB and RS-232).

The Home version can have an icon in the tray I can click on to see what is going on with the UPS. It also pops up messages during an event, such as power outage (although the UPS beeping its little ole heart out is a dead giveaway), USB is disconnected, etc. I could leave the window open on my desktop if I wanted but I don't. There also is a gadget that can be installed on the desktop but I didn't keep it (I tried it out of curiosity) since I didn't feel it was necessary; clicking on the icon every once in a while and the popups are plenty for me. Btw, M$ has been discouraging the use of gadgets for security reasons.

@ crankypenguin. Again, I suggest you contact APC to see if they have a gadget available, either as a separate download or hidden in your current software, or if there is a way to bypass the password requirement.

The password requirement is actually my doing, if I want to open ANY application, I must type in my password, I guess its a extra security measure. But thanks for the tip about contacting APC, I will do so. I will mark this as resolved. If they actually contact me back I will update the thread. Once again, thank you for your time Lady Fitzgerald.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

No worries!

Since the password requirement is your doing, mayhap, then, you could defeat it and add the application to your start up menu. Then you might be able to either see it in the tray, access it quickly from the taskbar, or just leave it open in a reduced size on your desktop.

 

[Ranger4]

My UPS starts beeping as soon as the power fails. I then quickly save & close any open files & shut down the computer. I get quite a lot of power outages here & some can run for hours, so I would be not consider using hibernate as the computer is still using some power in that state. Also I don't l know what problems might arise if the power backup fails while in hibernation mode.

To Crankypenguin, unless you really want to monitor your UPS at all times it isn't necessary. The UPS will give you plenty of warning if the power fails. It is only necessary to check it occasionally to see that all is well.

 

[crankypenguin]

My UPS starts beeping as soon as the power fails. I then quickly save & close any open files & shut down the computer. I get quite a lot of power outages here & some can run for hours, so I would be not consider using hibernate as the computer is still using some power in that state. Also I don't l know what problems might arise if the power backup fails while in hibernation mode.

To Crankypenguin, unless you really want to monitor your UPS at all times it isn't necessary. The UPS will give you plenty of warning if the power fails. It is only necessary to check it occasionally to see that all is well.

Yeah my UPS beeps too when power is lost, I have it set to manually turn off stuff as I do not leave my PC running when I am not in front of it. I use my UPS as more of a preventative measure against hardware damage(especially HDDs and my SSD) due to power spikes / drops and outages. We have pretty consistent power here, but I have noticed that it fluctuates more in the winter. Perhaps due to people using more juice in the building ie: electric heaters and so forth. I have my PS3, Computer, Monitor and keyboard hooked up to the battery ports, the rest is hooked into non-batter ports and plain old surge protection strips. Only reason I have to have my keyboard plugged into the UPS is because it's the G-19 by Logitech and it requires some juice to run properly and it would suck to be left with a working computer but no keyboard...I suppose I could quickly plug the mouse into a free USB port to shut down, but it's a hassle. I get about 32 mins of power in an outage, but set my UPS to shut down when the battery reaches 30%. I am actually considering buying this *extension unit* which looks exactly like the UPS I have, only without the LED or any type of control, basically an extra battery with a spacial connection cord in the back that you plug into your main one. You can wire them up with as many extra batteries as you want.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

My UPS starts beeping as soon as the power fails. I then quickly save & close any open files & shut down the computer. I get quite a lot of power outages here & some can run for hours, so I would be not consider using hibernate as the computer is still using some power in that state. Also I don't l know what problems might arise if the power backup fails while in hibernation mode.

To Crankypenguin, unless you really want to monitor your UPS at all times it isn't necessary. The UPS will give you plenty of warning if the power fails. It is only necessary to check it occasionally to see that all is well.

??? Are you sure you aren't confusing hibernate with sleep? When my machine hibernates, it saves the current state to the HDD. I could remove the HDD and replace it later and it would still return to that state. The reason for my UPS being set to hibernate my computer is to prevent me from losing any work, even if I'm not around when the power outage happens. Even if the UPS completely loses power over an extended outage because the batteries are exhausted (not likely since mine is huge), my work is safe.

...To Crankypenguin, unless you really want to monitor your UPS at all times it isn't necessary. The UPS will give you plenty of warning if the power fails. It is only necessary to check it occasionally to see that all is well.

I agree. I open up my dashboard no more than once a week at this time of year but more often during the summer because of frequent low voltage events being boosted. All you need is a quick peek every now and then just to be sure all is well. You should figure out quickly how often will be necessary.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

My UPS starts beeping as soon as the power fails. I then quickly save & close any open files & shut down the computer. I get quite a lot of power outages here & some can run for hours, so I would be not consider using hibernate as the computer is still using some power in that state. Also I don't l know what problems might arise if the power backup fails while in hibernation mode.

To Crankypenguin, unless you really want to monitor your UPS at all times it isn't necessary. The UPS will give you plenty of warning if the power fails. It is only necessary to check it occasionally to see that all is well.

Yeah my UPS beeps too when power is lost, I have it set to manually turn off stuff as I do not leave my PC running when I am not in front of it. I use my UPS as more of a preventative measure against hardware damage(especially HDDs and my SSD) due to power spikes / drops and outages. We have pretty consistent power here, but I have noticed that it fluctuates more in the winter. Perhaps due to people using more juice in the building ie: electric heaters and so forth. I have my PS3, Computer, Monitor and keyboard hooked up to the battery ports, the rest is hooked into non-batter ports and plain old surge protection strips. Only reason I have to have my keyboard plugged into the UPS is because it's the G-19 by Logitech and it requires some juice to run properly and it would suck to be left with a working computer but no keyboard...I suppose I could quickly plug the mouse into a free USB port to shut down, but it's a hassle. I get about 32 mins of power in an outage, but set my UPS to shut down when the battery reaches 30%. I am actually considering buying this *extension unit* which looks exactly like the UPS I have, only without the LED or any type of control, basically an extra battery with a spacial connection cord in the back that you plug into your main one. You can wire them up with as many extra batteries as you want.

Summer is when I have the most "dirty" power (low voltage events) due to increased AC usage. My UPS will regulate that directly from the mains without having to use the battery.

I run my computer 24/7, except for occasional shutdowns when something goes pear shaped or, mostly, when installing programs or updates, since I often have updates downloading or backups uploading overnight. I normally shut the computer down when I go out of town but I trust my UPS enough (yes, I've tested it), I had no worries leaving it running during a recent trip because I had a large amount of data that needed to uploaded to Carbonite (it was throttled when I exceeded 200GB online).

I don't understand why you are concerned about the keyboard power. Once the power comes back on, wouldn't the keyboard's PSU power it back up?