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MS WINDOWS VISTA

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12 Hidden Windows Vista Network Tools

Windows Vista delivers an impressive line up of network tools that can be used to keep the operating system connectivity on a short leash. The total of 12 command-line tools can be used to manage all aspects of Vista networking. Users will be able not only to closely monitor the networking activity of the platform, but also repair network connections. The utilities are not new to Windows Vista, having survived in the operating system from previous Windows versions. Here is the complete list in alphabetical order:

getmac – this tool will enable you to display the MAC addresses for network adapters on a system. The Media Access Control (MAC) address for the network card can be accessed both on the local computer and on a network.

hostname – not sure about what the name of your machine is on the network? Just type hostname and hit enter.

ipconfig – according to Microsoft’s own description, the tool is designed to display by default only the IP address, subnet mask and gateway for each adapter associated with the TCP/IP. But in addition to enumerating the TCP/IP network configuration parameters users can also refresh the DHCP and DNS settings.

nslookup – is meant to be used according to Domain Name System.

net – is a general tool with commands covering a broad range of functionality.

netstat – displays protocol statistics and TCP/IP network connections.

netsh – the command-line tool enables Vista users to both view and alter the network configuration settings of computers.

pathping – is a middle solution which bundles the functionality delivered by traceroute and ping.

nbtstat – a tool that will display protocol statistics and current TCP/IP connections using NetBIOS over TCP/IP.

Ping – a complete description of the ping utility can be found here.

route – manipulates network routing tables.

tracert – users can implement this command-line tool to identify connectivity problems between the local computer and a network address.

When using command-line tools in Windows Vista it is healthy to remember to launch the command prompt window with administrative privileges. In order to do so, enter “cmd” in the Search box under the Vista Start Menu and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to launch the process with elevated privileges.

Checking for TCP/IP Connection Problems in Windows Vista

When a Windows Vista desktop is shifted from one network to other, one of the most common sources of problems is the physical connection between the computer and the network. As Windows Vista’s default communication protocol for the Internet is TCP/IP, users will be able to ping their way into a connection diagnostic. The ping utility will immediately and effortlessly identify and display connection problems in TCP/IP-based networks.

Connection problems can be:

- Local

- Restricted

- Due to the lack of connectivity among computers that are part of the same network

- Can be related to external Internet locations.

The first stage of troubleshooting involves verifying the validity of the physical connection (i.e. the hardware) that ties the computer to the network.

Secondly via the ping utility, users can check both the integrity of a local network and an Internet connection. Windows Vista will send out Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) packets to an address that is specified by the users. In this context, the user can target another computer on the network via the IP or an online location. Windows Vista will display responses from the addresses to the echo datagrams sent initially and will verify if the connection is alive.

A ping command can be run from, well, the Run dialog box accessible by holding down the Windows key and then pressing “R” or through a command prompt window, enter “cmd” in the Search box under the Vista Start menu and hit Enter. In order to access all the commands which can be used together with ping, type “ping /?” in a command prompt window and hit enter. “ping www.address.com” or “ping [192.00.00.11]” are examples of how you can verify the connection to an Internet location or to a certain computer.

In order to increase the default number of packets that the computer is sending out, users can enter “ping –n 40 [192.00.00.11].” Bear in mind that the packets have to return in the same amount of time that they were sent out in order to exemplify a healthy network. The “Request timed out” message is illustrative of problems that exist along the connection but not on the computer that is sending the packets.

In order to verify if the TCP/IP connection on the local machine is functioning within normal parameters, users can also ping their own computer with the following commands “ping ::1″ (for Ipv6 address), “ping 127.0.0.1″ (for IPv4 address) and “ping localhost” (which is compatible with both). Any error message is an indication of the fact that the TCP/IP connection on the local machine is at fault.

Users also have the possibility to ping the IP address of routers and default gateways and DNS servers, in addition to their own Windows Vista machine, in order to check if they are connected to them.

Successful ping to one particular point means that the computer’s TCP/IP connection is well established till that point. Now the checking needs to be done to a point further ahead of that.

Extend and Shrik Vista Disk Partition

With Windows Vista, third party Partition application like Partition Magic, Disk Director or any other Partition Manager is no more required because Windows Vista itself is equipped with their in-house partition manager.

This vista partition application is easy to use which it allow to shrink and extending existing partition like other popular partition program. Below is the simple step to shrink and extend vista partition.

Shrinking Windows Vista Partitions or partitioning:

Start Menu -> Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Administrative Tools -> Double Click Computer Management -> Storage -> Disk Management.

Right click on vista disk partition that you want to shrink and select the shrink option.

Then , A pop-up box will be appear and you need to enter the amount of space you want to shrink the partition by (By default, the maximum is entered).

Click Shrink and Vista partition application will start to shrink the disk according the amount that you enter.

After shrink the partition, You can click the new partition and format it the way you want it.

Extending Windows Vista Partitions:

Start Menu -> Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Administrative Tools -> Double Click Computer Management -> Storage -> Disk Management.

Right click on vista disk partition that you want to extend and select the extend option.

Then click Next in the Extend Volume Wizard.

Then Vista extend volume wizard will list down all the free space available on the disk drive and let you extend on the particular disk partition.

Select the amount of disk space available that you want to extend in on the particular partition.

Click Next and Confirm and Finish. That is it! You have extended the partition.

Tweak Windows Vista Indexing Options

Windows Vista works in the background to automatically index all the files in the Start Menu, user profile folders and files setup for offline access by default. If you have many files in these locations and the files change often, the indexing service may slow down your system’s performance. Unlike Windows XP, Vista now allows you to easily tweak the indexing service following the steps below. It is recommended that you disable indexing for the other locations other than the Start Menu for maximum performance. Bear in mind that while this tweak speeds up your overall system performance, it will also slow you down when searching for files in those locations.

1. Click on the Start Button and enter Indexing Options. Hit Enter and the Indexing Options should load.

2. Click on the Modify button, followed by Show all locations.

3. Scroll through the tree-view and uncheck all options except the Start Menu. Hit OK.

Note: For advanced users, you can also change other indexing options, like the file types to index, by clicking on the Advanced button.