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.

The command syntax is netstat [-a] [-b] [-e] [-n] [-o] [-p proto] [-r] [-s] [-v] [interval] A brief description of the switches is given in Table I below. Note that switches for Netstat use the dash symbol “-” rather than the slash “/”.

Netstat usefulness

It is a command-line tool, which is very useful to check the behaviour of your network. It allows you to check all aspects of TCP/IP. It also tells you what all connections your machine is making presently. You can also check if any virus, malware or other unwanted script is making connection to other harmful sources and stealing your information through this command.

Some examples of usage of netstat command for non-professional users are:

Checking connections

TCP and UDP connections and their IP and port addresses can be seen by entering a command combining two switches: netstat -an

This command displays protocol, the local address, the remote address, and the connection state along with port.

Table II. Description of various connection states

How to check for unwanted or risky connections?

If u doubt that there are unwanted malwares on ur system trying to establish risky connections. You can find out which programs are making connections with the outside world, we can use the command

netstat -b

Actually, it is better to check over a period of time and we can add a number that sets the command to run at fixed intervals. Also, it is best to create a written record of the connections that are made over some period of time. The command can then be written

netstat -b 5 >> C:\connections.txt

Note that as written, this command will run with five-second intervals until stopped by entering “Ctrl+c“, which is a general command to exit. (Some reports say that this can be fairly CPU intensive so it may cause a slower, single-core machine to run sluggishly. Note that the Process ID (PID) is given. This command can be combined with other tools such as Task Manager to analyze what executable files and processes are active and are trying to make Internet connections.

There are many paid softwares available  to serve the purpose . But who likes to pay for softwares these days so here’s a simple solution:

All you need is a compression software like Winzip, Winrar or 7zip.

Right click on the folder you want to protect  and select Add to Archive.

Look for encryption section and specify a password.

If you also  check mark ” Encrypt file name”,it will protect individual file names.

Select OK , to compress your folder.

Now when you click to extract file , It asks you to enter password.

That’s It.  Now you can write this file on CD/DVD or copy to USB.

Off-course many people will like this to be more formal and easier. But for that you will need to purchase an encryption software.

When you install Windows, Setup requests that you enter your name, and optionally, the organization name. This registration information is displayed under Registered to in the General tab of System when you click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.

 To change your name and company information after Windows is installed on your computer, follow these steps:

 

Important

 

This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.

 

How to back up and restore the registry in Windows Click Start, and then click Run.

• In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
•  Locate the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
•  To change the company name, do the following:
• In the right pane, double-click RegisteredOrganization. Under Value data, type the name that you want, and then click OK.
• To change the name of the registered owner, do the following:
• In the right pane, double-click RegisteredOwner. Under Value data, type the name that you want, and then click OK.
• Click Exit on the File menu to quit Registry Editor.

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Keyboard
3. Open InitialKeyboardIndicators
4. Change the value to one of the following numbers
   0 – All Keys off
   1 – Caps Lock on
   2 – Num Lock on
   4 – Scroll Lock on
   For multiple keys, add their values:
   3 – Caps Lock and Num Lock on
   5 – Caps Lock and Scroll Lock on
   6 – Num Lock and Scroll Lock on
   7 – Caps Lock, Num Lock, and Scroll Lock on
5. Log off and back on again

If you are having problems with lockups, blue screens, or can only get to safe mode,
often the problem is due to a faulty device driver.

One way to help identify them is through the use of the Verfier program

1. Start / Run / Verifier
2. Keep the default of Create Standard Settings
3. Select the type of drivers you want to confirm
4. A list of drivers to be verified on the next boot will be shown.
5. Reboot
6. If your computer stops with a blue screen, you should get an error message with the problem driver
7. To turn off the Verifier, run verifier /reset

There are several ways you can determine your IP address information:

IPCONFIG

1. Start / Run / cmd
2. IPCONFIG /ALL

This opens a command window. One advantage is that you can send the information to a text file (IPCONFIG /ALL > c:\ip.txt)
But sometimes the window shows show much information you need to scroll around to fine it.

VIEW STATUS

1. Control Panel / Network Connections / Double click the icons for your network (If the network has an icon in the system tray you can also just double click on that icon)
2. Click on the Support tab
3. Click on the Details button

There are a lot of things which can negatively impact how fast XP will browse network shares.
One has been previously covered regarding browsing to Win9x computers.

Other things you can try, especially when there is slow browsing to network shares with a lot of files:

1. Remove current shortcuts in My Network Places

2. Change the registry so shared folders on remote computers are not automatically added to My Network Places when you even open a document from that shared folder

1. Start Regedit
2. Create a DWORD value:
3. HKEY_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer \ NoRecentDocsNetHood to 1.
4. I have also seen setting the following help as well.
   HKEY_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer \ UseDesktopIniCache to 1.

3. Increase the amount of data is buffered at one time to send to a client. On the computer with the shared directory:

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters
3. Create a DWORD Key called SizReqBuf
4. Give it a value of Hex FFFF

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Tour
3. Create a new DWORD key called RunCount
4. Give it a value of 0

1. Log on with an account that has administrator rights
2. Right click on the folder
3. Select Properties
4. Click on the Security tab
5. Click on the Advanced button
6. Click on the Owner tab
7. In the list of Names, click on your name
8. To take ownership, click on Replace owner on subcontainers and objects
9. Click OK and Yes