The Windows™ 95/98 Network Programs
Mostly
Command-Line Programs for Intranets and the Internet


Note: Microsoft ported most of these programs directly from Windows NT 4.0 or even NT 3.5

Sometimes people think of these programs as MS-DOS commands, but they have nothing to do with the Disk Operating System! They are simply Command-Line (or Window's Console) programs which were included with the Windows 95/98 OSs. They are all full 32-bit programs which means they cannot be exectued until after Windows (a 32-bit operating system) is up and running. These programs are found in your WINDOWS directory.


Click here for a whole page of real examples using the
Interactive or Batch-run :

Command-Line ftp Client: FTP.exe.


The Network programs discussed on this page are:

NETSTAT.exe (TCP/IP Net Connections)

PING.exe       TRACERT.exe (Trace Route)

NBSTAT.exe       ROUTE.exe       ARP.exe


NETSTAT.exe      TCP/IP Network Statistics

Displays protocol statistics and current TCP/IP network connections.

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.

First, I would recommend that you always use the '-a' parameter so you can see UDP 'listening ports' as well (often used by trojans), and not just the active TCP connections; then switch between using the '-a' and no parameters at all, to see the differences. When you're offline, you normally shouldn't see any connection data! If you do see an OPEN PORT NUMBER 'listening' for a connection (using the '-a' parameter), it may be that your computer has been infected with a trojan!   Click this link for a few more ideas on how you can check to see if your computer is Trojan Free?

If you're running a server, such as the free XITAMI server, you might see something like this ("My_Comp" is the name of my computer):
C:\WINDOWS>netstat -a

Active Connections

  Proto  Local Address          Foreign Address        State
  TCP    My_Comp:ftp            localhost:0            LISTENING
  TCP    My_Comp:80             localhost:0            LISTENING
Or with the "-an" parameters:
C:\WINDOWS>netstat -an

Active Connections

  Proto  Local Address          Foreign Address        State
  TCP    0.0.0.0:21             0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
  TCP    0.0.0.0:80             0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
By simply opening a browser connection to both the HTTP (port 80) and FTP (port 21) servers (while still offline!), I saw the following:
C:\WINDOWS>netstat -a

Active Connections

  Proto  Local Address          Foreign Address        State
  TCP    My_Comp:ftp            localhost:0            LISTENING
  TCP    My_Comp:80             localhost:0            LISTENING
  TCP    My_Comp:1104           localhost:0            LISTENING
  TCP    My_Comp:ftp            localhost:1104         ESTABLISHED
  TCP    My_Comp:1102           localhost:0            LISTENING
  TCP    My_Comp:1103           localhost:0            LISTENING
  TCP    My_Comp:80             localhost:1111         TIME_WAIT
  TCP    My_Comp:1104           localhost:ftp          ESTABLISHED
  TCP    My_Comp:1107           localhost:0            LISTENING
  TCP    My_Comp:1112           localhost:80           TIME_WAIT
  UDP    My_Comp:1102           *:*
  UDP    My_Comp:1103           *:*
  UDP    My_Comp:1107           *:*
This may be a bit confusing to some people, but remember I'm running BOTH the servers and clients on the same machine in these examples. A little later (using both 'a' and 'n') I got this:
C:\WINDOWS>netstat -an

Active Connections

  Proto  Local Address          Foreign Address        State
  TCP    0.0.0.0:21             0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
  TCP    0.0.0.0:80             0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
  TCP    0.0.0.0:1104           0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
  TCP    127.0.0.1:21           127.0.0.1:1104         FIN_WAIT_2
  TCP    127.0.0.1:1102         0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
  TCP    127.0.0.1:1103         0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
  TCP    127.0.0.1:1104         127.0.0.1:21           CLOSE_WAIT
  TCP    127.0.0.1:1107         0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
  UDP    127.0.0.1:1102         *:*
  UDP    127.0.0.1:1103         *:*
  UDP    127.0.0.1:1107         *:*
After turning off my server, I ended up with this for a while:
C:\WINDOWS>netstat -an

Active Connections

  Proto  Local Address          Foreign Address        State
  TCP    127.0.0.1:80           127.0.0.1:1150         TIME_WAIT
  TCP    127.0.0.1:80           127.0.0.1:1151         TIME_WAIT

PING.exe

Usage: 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             Ping the specifed host until interrupted.
    -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.

There's one special IP number everyone should know about:

127.0.0.1 - localhost (or loopback).
This is used to connect ( through a browser, for example) to a Web server on your own computer. (127 being reserved for this purpose.) You can use this IP number at all times. It doesn't matter if you're connected to the Internet or not.

It's also called the loopback address because you can ping it and get returns even when you're offline (not connected to any network). If you don't get any valid replies, then there's a problem with the computer's Network settings. Here's a typical response to the 'ping' command:


Here's another recent example using the name of my computer which I have tied to the IP number 127.0.0.1 in my C:\WINDOWS\HOSTS file:
C:\WINDOWS>ping My_Comp

Pinging My_Comp [127.0.0.1] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 127.0.0.1:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum =  1ms, Average =  0ms

TRACERT.exe           Trace Route

Usage: 
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.


Here's an example which traces the route from some ISP in Los Angeles to the main server at UCLA in California ( note how two computers relatively close to each other may be routed way round about! ):
C:\WINDOWS>tracert www.ucla.edu

Tracing route to www.ucla.edu [169.232.33.129]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1   141 ms   132 ms   140 ms  wla-ca-pm6.icg.net [165.236.29.85]
  2   134 ms   131 ms   139 ms  whv-ca-gw1.icg.net [165.236.29.65]
  3   157 ms   132 ms   143 ms  f3-1-0.lai-ca-gw1.icg.net [165.236.24.89]
  4   194 ms   193 ms   188 ms  a0-0-0-1.dai-tx-gw1.icg.net [163.179.235.61]
  5   300 ms   211 ms   214 ms  a1-1-0-1.ati-ga-gw1.icg.net [163.179.235.186]
  6   236 ms   237 ms   247 ms  a5-0-0-1.was-dc-gw1.icg.net [163.179.235.129]
  7   258 ms   236 ms   244 ms  163.179.243.205
  8   231 ms   233 ms   230 ms  wdc-brdr-03.inet.qwest.net [205.171.4.153]
  9   240 ms   230 ms   236 ms  wdc-core-03.inet.qwest.net [205.171.24.69]
 10   262 ms   264 ms   263 ms  hou-core-01.inet.qwest.net [205.171.5.187]
 11   281 ms   263 ms   259 ms  hou-core-03.inet.qwest.net [205.171.23.9]
 12   272 ms   229 ms   222 ms  lax-core-02.inet.qwest.net [205.171.5.163]
 13   230 ms   217 ms   230 ms  lax-edge-07.inet.qwest.net [205.171.19.58]
 14   228 ms   219 ms   220 ms  63-145-160-42.cust.qwest.net [63.145.160.42]
 15   218 ms   222 ms   218 ms  ISI-7507--ISI.POS.calren2.net [198.32.248.21]
 16   232 ms   222 ms   214 ms  UCLA--ISI.POS.calren2.net [198.32.248.30]
 17   234 ms   226 ms   226 ms  cbn5-gsr.calren2.ucla.edu [169.232.1.18]
 18   245 ms   227 ms   235 ms  www.ucla.edu [169.232.33.129]

Trace complete.



    Note: Unless you're running a network, the following commands won't be of much use to you...

    Furthermore, if you're concerned about Security, my advice is to NEVER use NetBios on a computer that connects to the Internet.

NBTSTAT.exe         Net Bios Stats

Displays protocol statistics and current TCP/IP connections using NBT
(NetBIOS over TCP/IP).

NBTSTAT [-a RemoteName] [-A IP address] [-c] [-n] [-r] [-R] [-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 the remote name cache including the 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 host names via the hosts file.

    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.


ROUTE.exe

Manipulates network routing tables.

ROUTE [-f] [command [destination] [MASK netmask] [gateway]]



  -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.

  command      Specifies one of four commands

                 PRINT     Prints a route
                 ADD       Adds a route
                 DELETE    Deletes a route
                 CHANGE    Modifies an existing route

  destination  Specifies the host to send command.

  MASK         If the MASK keyword is present, the next parameter is
	       interpreted as the netmask parameter.

  netmask      If provided, specifies a sub-net mask value to be associated
	       with this route entry.  If not specified, if defaults to
	       255.255.255.255.

  gateway      Specifies gateway.

 All symbolic names used for destination or gateway are looked up in the
 network and host name database files NETWORKS and HOSTS, respectively.
 If the command is print or delete, wildcards may be used for the
 destination and gateway, or the gateway argument may be omitted.


ARP.exe      Address Resolution Protocol

ARP -s inet_addr eth_addr [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 separated 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.


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