Windows (XP) Network Commands

1. Ipconfig
The Windows IP Configuration tool (ipconfig) is the command-line tool. It is used to
display the TCP/IP network configuration values. To open it, enter "ipconfig" in the
command prompt. If you are connected directly to the Internet, you will obtain your IP
address.
The figure below shows the result for a broadband connection where the IP is assigned
automatically. Here the IP is your computer's temporary address on the Internet.

If you are on a local area network using a router, the information is different. You do not
obtain the IP corresponding to the network's address on the Internet. The IP given is the
local address on the network. This information can be helpful in diagnosing network
problems. Also listed is the "gateway" or router address on the local network. The figure
below illustrates the result.

Switches for IPConfig

There are also a variety of switches for ipconfig that add functions. These are invoked by
entering "ipconfig /{switch}". To obtain a list of switches, enter "ipconfig /?" or "ipconfig
-?". These are shown in the figure below.
The switches of most interest to everyday use are "release" and "renew". Note that IP
addresses are typically assigned or "leased" for a period of time, often a day or more. It
sometimes happens that IP addresses are no longer valid or are in conflict. Problems can
often be solved by first releasing the IP address and then renewing it. Sometimes cable or
DSL modems that seem to be disabled can be restored this way. If you travel and use
broadband connections elsewhere, you will often find this procedure of releasing and
renewing the IP address to be necessary.

ipconfig [/? | /all | /release [adapter] | /renew [adapter] | /flushdns | /registerdns |

/showclassid adapter | /setclassid adapter [classidtoset] ]

/all

Display full configuration information.

/release

Release the IP address for the specified adapter.

/renew

Renew the IP address for the specified adapter.

/flushdns

Purges the DNS Resolver cache.

/registerdns

Refreshes all DHCP leases and re-registers DNS names

/displaydns

Display the contents of the DNS Resolver Cache.

/showclassid Displays all the dhcp class IDs allowed for adapter.
/setclassid

Modifies the dhcp class id.

The default is to display only the IP address, subnet mask and default gateway for each
adapter bound to TCP/IP.
For Release and Renew, if no adapter name is specified, then the IP address leases for all
adapters bound to TCP/IP will be released or renewed.
For SetClassID, if no class id is specified, then the classid is removed.
Examples
To get your computers local network IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway typing
ipconfig alone will display this information as shown below. Keep in mind this is only
your local network information.

ipconfig
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.ut.comcast.net.
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.201.245
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.201.1
To get all local network information for your computer use the /all switch as shown
below, followed by the results that would be seen when using this command.
ipconfig /all
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . : COMPUTERH1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . : 123.45.67.8
111.111.111.1
111.111.111.1
Node Type . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
NetBIOS Scope ID. . . . . . :
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . : No
NetBIOS Resolution Uses DNS : No
0 Ethernet adapter :
Description . . . . . . . . : PPP Adapter.
Physical Address. . . . . . : 44-44-44-54-00-00
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . : 123.45.67.802
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . : 123.45.67.801
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Primary WINS Server . . . . :
Secondary WINS Server . . . :
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . : 01 01 80 12:00:00 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . : 01 01 80 12:00:00 AM
1 Ethernet adapter :
Description . . . . . . . . : 3Com 3C90x Ethernet Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . : 00-50-04-62-F7-23
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . : 111.111.111.108

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . : 111.111.111.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . : 111.111.111.1
Primary WINS Server . . . . :
Secondary WINS Server . . . :
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . : 11 16 00 12:12:44 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . :
ipconfig /displaydns
Running the above command would display all the DNS information.
ipconfig /flushdns
Delete all DNS entries.
2. Ping
Ping is an old Unix tool that has been around for a long time but many PC users are
unfamiliar with the Windows version. Ping sends out a packet to a designated internet
host or network computer and measures its response time. The target computer will return
(hopefully) a signal. It is a way of determining the quality of your connection to another
site. To use ping, open a command window (or DOS in Windows 9X/Me) and type: ping
<hostname>. For example, to ping Dell enter: ping dell.com Please note the use of a
hostname, not a complete URL. The prefix "http://" is never used. Many sites also do not
require "www" . By convention, 32 byte packets will be transmitted four times. You will
receive a screen output that looks like:

The screen tells me that the IP for dell.com is 143.166.83.230 (For the moment, at least.
This can change.) It also tells me that the average round trip time for a packet was 69
milliseconds, which means I have a good connection to dell.com. Long reply times of
several hundred milliseconds are indicative of a slow connection. Note that some major

sites such as microsoft.com do not like being pinged and block pings. In that case you
will get a "Request timed out" message.

Syntax
ping

[-t] [-a] [-n count] [-l size] [-f] [-i TTL] [-v TOS]
[-r count] [-s count] [[-j host-list] | [-k host-list]]
[-w timeout] destination-list

Options:
-t

Pings the specified host until stopped.

To see statistics and continue - type
Control-Break;
To stop - type Control-C.

-a

Resolve addresses to hostnames.

-n count

Number of echo requests to send.

-l size

Send buffer size.

-f

Set Don't Fragment flag in packet.

-i TTL

Time To Live.

-v TOS

Type Of Service.

-r count

Record route for count hops.

-s count

Timestamp for count hops.

-j host-list

Loose source route along host-list.

-k host-list

Strict source route along host-list.

-w timeout

Timeout in milliseconds to wait for each

reply.

Examples

ping localhost

Pings the local host, this will allow you to see if the computer is able to send
information out and receive the information back. Note that this does not send
information over a network but may allow you to see if the card is being seen.
ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Allows you to ping another computer where the x's are located are where you would
place the IP address of the computer you are attempting to ping. If this is not able to
complete, this should relay back an unsuccessful message, which could be an
indication of cable issues, network card issues, hub issue, etc.
ping google.com
PING google.com (204.228.150.3) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from www.google.com (204.228.150.3): icmp_seq=1 ttl=63 time=0.267 ms
--- google.com ping statistics --1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, time 0ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.267/0.267/0.267/0.000 ms

3. Tracert
Tracert (traceroute) is another old tool borrowed from Unix. The actual path between two
computers on the Internet is not a straight line but consists of numerous segments or
"hops" from one intermediate computer to another. Tracert shows each step of the path
taken. It can be interesting to see just how convoluted it is. The times for each hop and
the IP addresses for each intermediate computer are displayed. Tracert shows up to 30
hops. It is convenient for finding if there is one particular segment that is causing a slow
or bad connection. A typical command might be "tracert dell.com".
The tracert command in MS-DOS / Windows is another commonly used network
command to help determine network related issues or slowdowns. Using this command
you can view a listing of how a network packet travels through the network and where it
may fail or slow down. Using this information you can determine the computer, router,
switch or other network device possibly causing your network issues.

Syntax
tracert [-d] [-h maximum_hops] [-j host-list] [-w timeout] target_name
Options:

-d

Do not resolve addresses to hostnames.

-h maximum_hops Maximum number of hops to search for target.

-j host-list

Loose source route along host-list.

-w timeout

Wait timeout milliseconds for each reply.

Examples
Below is an example when we used tracert on www.google.com. As you can see in the
below example, we had a very short list and time to get to its destination because of the
location we are.
tracert google.com
1169 ms190 ms160 msslc1-tc.xmission.com [166.70.1.20]
2159 ms160 ms190 mscisco0-tc.xmission.com [166.70.1.1]
3165 ms189 ms159 mswww.google.com [166.70.10.23]

4. Pathping
This command combines functions of Ping and Tracert. Pathping will first list the
number of hops required to reach the address you are testing and then send multiple pings
to each router between you and the destination. After that, it computes results based on
the packets returned from each router. Because pathping displays the degree of packet
loss at any given router or link, you can determine which routers or subnets might be
having network problems. Note that the whole process may consume 5-10 minutes
because many pings are being sent. There are switches to modify the process and these
can be seen by entering "pathping /?" in the command prompt.
Usage: pathping [-g host-list] [-h maximum_hops] [-i address] [-n]
[-p period] [-q num_queries] [-w timeout] [-P] [-R] [-T]
[-4] [-6] target_name
Options:
-g host-list

Loose source route along host-list.

-h maximum_hops Maximum number of hops to search for target.

-i address

Use the specified source address.

-n

Do not resolve addresses to hostnames.

-p period

Wait period milliseconds between pings.

-q num_queries

Number of queries per hop.

-w timeout

Wait timeout milliseconds for each reply.

-P

Test for RSVP PATH connectivity.

-R

Test if each hop is RSVP aware.

-T

Test connectivity to each hop with Layer-2 priority tags.

-4

Force using IPv4.

-6

Force using IPv6.

Examples
pathping google.com
Tracing route to google.com [204.228.150.3]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
0 Hope [192.168.120.101]
1 192.168.120.254
2 ...
Computing statistics for 50 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
HopRTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 Hope [192.168.120.101]
0/100 = 0%
|
0
0ms0/ 100 = 0%
0/100 = 0%
192.168.120.254
100/100 = 100% |
1
--- 100/100 = 100%0/100 = 0%
Hope [0.0.0.0]
2
Trace complete.

5. Netstat
Netstat displays the active TCP connections and ports on which the computer is listening,
Ethernet statistics, the IP routing table, statistics for the IP, ICMP, TCP, and UDP
protocols. It comes with a number of switches for displaying a variety of properties of the

network and TCP connections. (One tricky point: the switches must be prefixed with a
minus, not a slash.) More detail is at this page. One possible use for Netstat is to
determine if spyware or Trojans have established connections that you do not know
about. The command "netstat -a" will display all your connections. The command "netstat
-b" will show the executable files involved in creating a connection. A figure showing all
the switches and syntax is given below.

Syntax
NETSTAT [-a] [-e] [-n] [-s] [-p proto] [-r] [interval]

-a

Displays all connections and listening ports.

-e

Displays Ethernet statistics. This may be combined with the -s option.

-n

Displays addresses and port numbers in numerical form.

-p

proto Shows connections for the protocol specified by proto; proto may be TCP
or UDP. If used with the -s option to display per-protocol statistics, proto may be
TCP, UDP, or IP.

-r

Displays the routing table.

-s

Displays per-protocol statistics. By default, statistics are shown for TCP, UDP
and IP; the -p option may be used to specify a subset of the default.

interval Redisplays selected statistics, pausing interval seconds between each display.
Press CTRL+C to stop redisplaying statistics. If omitted, netstat will print the
current configuration information once.
Examples
netstat
Displays all local network information. Below is an example of what may be displayed.
Proto
TCP
TCP
TCP
netstat 5

Local Address
hope:4409
hope:3708
hope:4750

Foreign Address
www.google.com:telnet
multicity.com:80
www.google.com:80

State
ESTABLISHED
CLOSE_WAIT
CLOSE_WAIT

Running netstat with a number after the command will continue to run the command
until stopped. In this case netstat would be refreshed ever five seconds. To cancel
press CTRL + C.
Notice: Keep in mind that if you have network applications open, such as the browser
you're using to view this page, additional items will be listed when you run "netstat"
and/or the "netstat -a" command. So you may see items from Computer Hope in your list;
if you want a true listing of what is running in the background, close all programs and run
the command.

6. Nslookup
This command helps diagnose the Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure and comes
with a number of sub-commands. These are mainly for systems administrators. The
primary interest for average PC users is its use to find the computer name corresponding
to a numeric IP. For example, if you want to know who is "216.109.112.135" , enter
"nslookup 216.109.112.135" and you will find that it is (or was anyway) a Yahoo
computer. My firewall keeps a log of the IPs involved in the attempts to probe my
computer and I sometimes look a few up to see who they are.
Syntax
Commands: (identifiers are shown in uppercase, [] means optional)
NAME

print info about the host/domain NAME using default server

NAME1
NAME2

as above, but use NAME2 as server

help or ?

print info on common commands

set OPTION

set an option
all
print options, current server and host
[no]debug
print debugging information
[no]d2
print exhaustive debugging information
[no]defname
append domain name to each query
[no]recurse
ask for recursive answer to query
[no]search
use domain search list
[no]vc
always use a virtual circuit
domain=NAME
set default domain name to NAME
srchlist=N1[/N2/.../N6]set domain to N1 and search list to N1,N2, etc.
root=NAME
set root server to NAME
retry=X
set number of retries to X
timeout=X
set initial time-out interval to X seconds

type=X
querytype=X
class=X
[no]msxfr
ixfrver=X
server NAME

set query type (ex.

A,ANY,CNAME,MX,NS,PTR,SOA,SRV)
same as type
set query class (ex. IN (Internet), ANY)
use MS fast zone transfer
current version to use in IXFR transfer request

set default server to NAME, using current default server

lserver NAME set default server to NAME, using initial server

finger [USER] finger the optional NAME at the current default host
root

set current default server to the root

ls [opt]
DOMAIN [>
FILE]

list addresses in DOMAIN (optional: output to FILE)

view FILE

sort an 'ls' output file and view it with pg

exit

exit the program

-a
-d

list canonical names and aliases

list all records
list records of the given type (e.g. A,CNAME,MX,NS,PTR
-t TYPE
etc.)

Examples
This command is often used to perform a reverse lookup on an IP address as shown in the
below example. The first section specifies the server and address of that server that
provided you with the domain name and IP address displayed in the second section.
nslookup 204.228.150.3
Server: ns.google.com
Address: 1.1.1.1
Name: www.google.com
Address: 204.228.150.3

7. ROUTE
The route MS-DOS utility enables computers to view and modify the computer's route
table.
ROUTE [-f] [-p] [command [destination] [MASK netmask] [gateway] [METRIC metric]
[IF interface]

-f

Clears the routing tables of all gateway entries. If this is used in conjunction
with one of the commands, the tables are cleared prior to running the
command.

-p

When used with the ADD command, makes a route persistent across boots of
the system. By default, routes are not preserved when the system is restarted.
When used with the PRINT command, displays the list of registered
persistent routes. Ignored for all other commands, which always affect the
appropriate persistent routes. This option is not supported Windows'95.
command

command

One of these:
PRINT Prints a route
ADD Adds a route
DELETE Deletes a route
CHANGE Modifies an existing route destination

destination Specifies the host.

MASK

Specifies that the next parameter is the 'netmask' value.

netmask

Specifies a subnet mask value for this route entry. If not specified, it defaults
to 255.255.255.255.

gateway

Specifies gateway.

interface

the interface number for the specified route.

METRIC

Specifies the metric, ie. cost for the destination.

All symbolic names used for destination are looked up in the network database file
NETWORKS. The symbolic names for gateway are looked up in the host name database
file HOSTS.
If the command is PRINT or DELETE. Destination or gateway can be a wildcard,
(wildcard is specified as a star '*'), or the gateway argument may be omitted.
If Dest contains a * or ?, it is treated as a shell pattern, and only matching destination
routes are printed. The '*' matches any string, and '?' matches any one char. Examples:
157.*.1, 157.*, 127.*, *224*.
Diagnostic Notes:
Invalid MASK generates an error, that is when (DEST & MASK) != DEST.
Example> route ADD 157.0.0.0 MASK 155.0.0.0 157.55.80.1 IF 1
The route addition failed: The specified mask parameter is invalid.
(Destination & Mask) != Destination.

Examples
Examples:
> route PRINT
MASK 255.0.0.0
^mask
>route ADD 157.0.0.0
^destination

157.55.80.1 METRIC 3
IF 2
^metric ^Interface
^gateway

If IF is not given, it tries to find the best interface for a given

gateway.
> route PRINT
> route PRINT 157* .... Only prints those matching 157*
> route DELETE 157.0.0.0
> route PRINT
One way to use this would be as follows: You can't ping the server that you are
connecting to, but you know the ip address to be 127.16.16.10
>route PRINT
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x2 ...00 14 a4 c3 44 20 ...... Xircom CardBus Ethernet 10/100 Adapter
0x3 ...00 b0 d0 43 55 a5 ...... 3Com EtherLink PCI
0x4 ...00 01 b0 8f 8f 80 ...... NdisWan Adapter
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 127.16.8.14 127.16.8.14 1
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
127.16.0.0 255.255.0.0 127.16.8.14 127.16.8.14 1
127.16.8.14 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.50.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 2
192.168.50.65 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.50.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 1
224.0.0.0 224.0.0.0 127.16.8.14 127.16.8.14 1
224.0.0.0 224.0.0.0 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 1
** notice that no gateway for the current ip goes to 255.255.255.0, so it must be added.
Now do the below command.

>route ADD 127.16.0.0 MASK 255.255.255.0 <your current ip from winntcfg or

winipcfg> METRIC 1
**Then do the below command:
>route print
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 127.16.8.14 127.16.8.14 1
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
127.16.0.0 255.255.0.0 127.16.8.14 127.16.8.14 1
** 127.16.0.0 255.255.255.0 127.16.8.14 127.16.8.14 1
127.16.8.14 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.50.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 2
192.168.50.65 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.50.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 1
224.0.0.0 224.0.0.0 127.16.8.14 127.16.8.14 1
224.0.0.0 224.0.0.0 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 1
**Notice the ** ip address gives me the default gateway

8. NBTSTAT
The nbtstat MS-DOS utility that displays protocol statistics and current TCP/IP
connections using NBT.
Syntax
NBTSTAT [ [-a RemoteName] [-A IP address] [-c] [-n] [-r] [-R] [-RR] [-s] [-S]
[interval] ]
-a

(adapter status) Lists the remote machine's name table given its name

-A

(Adapter status) Lists the remote machine's name table given its IP
address.

-c

(cache) Lists NBT's cache of remote [machine] names and their IP

addresses

-n

(names) Lists local NetBIOS names.

-r

(resolved) Lists names resolved by broadcast and via WINS

-R

(Reload) Purges and reloads the remote cache name table

-S

(Sessions) Lists sessions table with the destination IP addresses

-s

(sessions) Lists sessions table converting destination IP addresses to

computer NETBIOS names.

-RR

(ReleaseRefresh) Sends Name Release packets to WINs and then, starts

Refresh

RemoteName Remote host machine name.

IP address

Dotted decimal representation of the IP address.

interval

Redisplays selected statistics, pausing interval seconds between each

display. Press Ctrl+C to stop redisplaying statistics.

Examples
nbtstat -a 204.224.150.3
Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [204.224.150.3] Scope Id: []
NetBIOS Remote Machine Name Table
Name Type Status
--------------------------------------------HOPE4
<00> UNIQUE Registered
CHGROUP
<00> GROUP Registered
HOPE4
<20> UNIQUE Registered
HOPE4
<03> UNIQUE Registered
CHGROUP
<1E> GROUP Registered
CHGROUP
<1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.
<01> GROUP Registered
ADMINISTRATOR
<03> UNIQUE Registered
MAC Address = 00-00-00-00-00-00

9. ARP
Display or manipulate the ARP information on a network device or computer.

Additional information about the MS-DOS arp command can be found here.

Syntax
ARP -s inet_addr eth_adr [if_addr]
ARP -d inet_addr [if_addr]
ARP -a [inet_addr] [-N if_addr]
-a

Displays current ARP entries by interrogating the current protocol data. If

inet_addr is specified, the IP and Physical addresses for only the specified
computer are displayed. If more than one network interface uses ARP, entries
for each ARP table are displayed.

-g

Same as -a

inet_addr Specifies an Internet address.

-N if
addr

Displays the ARP entries for the network interface specified by if_addr.

-d

Deletes the host specified by inet_addr.

-s

Adds the host and associates the Internet address inet_addr with the Physical
address eth_addr. The Physical address is given as 6 hexadecimal bytes
seperated by hyphens. The entry is permanent.

eth_addr

Specifies a physical address

if_addr

If present, this specifies the Internet address of the interface whose address
translation table should be modified. If not present, the first applicable
interface will be used.

Examples
arp -a
Interface 220.0.0.80
Internet Address
220.0.0.160

Physical Address
00-50-04-62-F7-23

Type
static

The Physical Address or MAC address as shown above in the format aa-bb-cc-dd-ee-ff is
the unique manufacturer identification number. This number should always be a unique
address.
An example of how to change the above IP address 220.0.0.160 to 220.0.0.161 in this
case would be:
arp -s 220.0.0.161 00-50-04-62-F7-23

If an IP address has already been assigned to the specific network adapter it is not
possible to change that assigned IP address to a new address. In addition, networks
italicizing DHCP, BOOTP or RARP will automatically assign the card an IP address,
therefore, this command would not be utilized

10. Netsh, the Network Services Shell

A suite of command line networking tools called Netsh that comes with its own shell
or interface is contained in a number of Windows operating systems and is discussed
here.
Introduction to Netsh
As more and more home users set up networks, they are finding themselves to be de
facto system administrators. Home networks are very nice but they require a certain
amount of care and feeding. Fortunately, Windows XP comes with a large assortment of
command-line tools that can help maintain your network. Although many are specialized
and of interest only to administrators of large corporate setups, some tools can be quite
helpful to the home user as well.
Many may find that the basic tools like ping, ipconfig, and netstat, which are discussed
on another page, are all that they care to deal with but the more adventurous can take
advantage of a complete suite of powerful tools called Netsh. This suite is invoked from
the standard command-line but has it has own interface or shell with a large number of
sub-commands. I will try to focus on the features of Netsh that I think can be helpful to
the home user. The whole suite has many applications and those who want more details
can go to this Microsoft reference.
The Network Services shell is opened by entering netsh into a regular command prompt.
The shell has a hierarchical structure with some sub-shells that Microsoft calls "contexts".
From the user's point of view, however, all that this means is that commands are entered
as a sequence of terms. The following sections discuss the "contexts" of most use to the
home user.
The "netsh diag" context
The diagnostic context "diag" contains useful tools for checking out a network and testing
various components and functions. Table I shows the contexts and sub-commands of
most interest to this discussion. A complete list and many details are given at this
Microsoft reference.
Table I. Some sub-shells (contexts) and commands for Netsh diag

Context

Sub-context

Commands

connect- Establishes, verifies, and then drops a

iphost, mail, news
connection
ping- Verifies connectivity

adapter, iphost, mail,

news

show- Lists network components and settings

all, client, ip, mail,

modem

diag

gui- Starts the network diagnostics tool in Help Graphical user

and Support Center.
interface
This group of commands provides ways to test some of the most common functions of
interest to home users. For example, you can test if your email server is working or check
your email settings by the command netsh diag connect mail (Note that this may not
work for email clients like AOL.). Another example is to list important settings withnetsh
diag show all
The graphical user interface
One way to simplify diagnostic tasks is to use the Help Center interface that can be
invoked by entering netsh diag gui With this interface, you can carry out a number of
diagnostic tests with one operation. Figure 1 shows the available functions.
Figure 1. Settings for GUI function of Netsh diag

The "netsh interface ip" context

This context is another with functions that might interest a home user. It provides a way
to add, delete, modify, and display various IP addresses and TCP/IP settings. Table II lists
several functions. More detail and additional functions are discussed in this Microsoft
reference. An example of its use is to display TCP/IP settings with the command netsh
interface ip show configThis can also be written netsh int ip show config
Table II. Some commands for "netsh interface ip"
Context
interface
ip
or
int ip

Subcontext

Function

set address

Configures an IP address and a default gateway on a

specified interface

show
address

Displays address for specified interface

Reset Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

Another example of using the Netsh Internet Ip context is resetting TCP/IP. For several
reasons, including infestation from spyware, these settings might get corrupted. Netsh
contains a command that will reset the TCP/IP stack to the original settings that existed
when the operating system was installed. These settings may not be the most up-to-date
for your system but they will allow you to reconfigure after a spyware invasion or other
problem. The command to reset TCP/IP is netsh int ip reset {logfile} Note that you must
include the name of a file where a log of the actions will be placed. Thus, if the log file is
C:\tcplog.txt, the command is netsh int ip reset C:\tcplog.txt A detailed description of
reinstalling TCP/IP is given at this Microsoft reference. Also, see the Winsock section
below.
The "netsh winsock" context
Service pack 2 for Windows XP includes some additions to the Netsh suite. These are
discussed here and include a new tool for repairing the Windows network socket or
"winsock". Uninstalling spyware or poorly written applications can corrupt the winsock
settings and result in loss of network connectivity. There are two commands for
managing the settings. To display a list of various installed services (LSP, BSP, NSP) use
netsh winsock show catalog This list may not be too meaningful for the average PC user
but it can be helpful for more experienced users. To reset the winsock to the default
configuration use netsh winsock reset catalog Note that any installed software that uses
Internet connections may be partially disabled by this action and have to be reinstalled.
This would include most software that updates itself and anti-virus programs that use
proxy servers. Therefore, this command should only be used for cases where the degree
of corruption makes it necessary. See this reference for some alternative methods.
Netsh Firewall Helper in Windows XP SP2
Microsoft changed the way the firewall in Windows XP works when it issued service
pack 2. It also added capability to Netsh for extensive configuring of the firewall with a
new context "netsh firewall" that Microsoft calls the Firewall Helper. Its use in
troubleshooting firewall problems in SP2 is extensively discussed in this knowledge base
article. With the Firewall Helper Microsoft says you can now
Configure the default state of Windows Firewall. (Options include Off, On, and On with
no exceptions.)
Configure the ports that must be open.
Configure the ports to enable global access or to restrict access to the local subnet.
Set ports to be open on all interfaces or only on a specific interface.
Configure the logging options.
Configure the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) handling options.
Add or remove programs from the exceptions list

The number of possible commands is quite large but two main sub-contexts are netsh
firewall set and netsh firewall show An extensive list of commands is in the knowledge
base article previously mentioned.