IP Configuration command line Tool for windows (ipconfig)

Earlier versions of windows had “winipcfg” tool for performing ip configuration activities. “winipcfg” was replaced by “ipconfig” windows IP configuration tool from windows XP onwards. It is used to display the TCP/IP network configuration values.

To run it, enter “ipconfig” in the command prompt. This will display your IP address as follows:

In case your computer is part of a LAN using a router, the IP displayed by this command will be your Computers IP on the LAN and not the IP that connects to teh internrt. To obtain the IP address of your LAN on internet, you can try any DSL Reports whois.

The IP given is the local address on the network. This information can be used in diagnosing network problems. The “gateway” or router address on the local network is also displayed by this command.

Various switches that can be used with IPConfig

ipconfig switches can be invoked by entering “ipconfig /{switch}”. To display a list of all available switches, enter “ipconfig/?” or “ipconfig -?”. The most commonly used switches by a home user are :

•  all – to display a detailed ip configuration you can use ipconfig/all
• release- to release your IP address.
• renew – asking your network adapter to renew your machine’s ip address
• flushdns- this switch is used to clear all DNS info

The above mentioned switches are very handy for trouble shooting your internet connection issues.

For this,

• First click on Start button and type  gpedit.msc into the search box and Enter.
• Now go to  User Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ System. Find  Setting  and scroll down and double click on Run only specified Windows applications.
• Set this option to Enabled and below Options section click on ‘Show’  next to List of allowed applications.
• A dialog comes up where windows asks you to type in the apps name(winword.exe,firefox.exe etc ) that should be allowed to run on your machine.
• Click OK and then close out of Local Group Policy Editor.
• Now  when a user tries to run an application that is not on the specified list they will receive the following error message.

“The operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator”.