Sometimes we try to move the mouse but it gets stuck or we try to open a window but nothing happens. Even though it looks like a regular case of hanging for your PC, but it just could also be overloaded CPU. In the latter case, you can just wait it out and can start using your PC when the CPU usage comes down a little. But the problem is how do you know about the CPU usage in your PC. One method is through the Task Manager, but it clearly does not work when PC has become unresponsive as you can hardly open any new programs when the CPU is super-busy.
Another way is to display the CPU usage statistics in the notification area using the free My CPU Monitor. This free program shows the current CPU usage percentage in the system tray of your Windows desktop. There are two icons displayed in the system tray which is very confusing, but only one icon displays the CPU usage percentage in number format and the other displays it in terms of color. A rainbow based color pattern is used – blue or green means CPU usage is low, while yellow, orange or red means that CPU usage is high.
If you do not want any of the two icons from being displayed in the system tray, then you can easily hide them. You can do this by right-clicking on the system tray icons and then selecting Hide CPU percentage icon or Hide CPU graphics icon. From the right-click menu, you can also set an alarm when the CPU usage goes above a pre-set percentage value. The alarm can display a warning and blink the system tray icon when the CPU usage goes beyond the pre-defined range.
You can download the My CPU Monitor application from http://www.myportablesoftware.com/.