How to Use Winipcfg to View TCP/IP Settings

• Microsoft Windows 95

SUMMARY

This article describes how to use the Winipcfg tool to review your current TCP/IP network protocol settings. This can be useful when you are troubleshooting problems, such as problems connecting to your Internet provider.

MORE INFORMATION

To view your current TCP/IP settings using Winipcfg, follow these steps:

1. Click the Start button, and then click Run.

2. Type the following line in the Open box, and then click OK:

         winipcfg
   

NOTE: The Winipcfg display is not updated dynamically. To view changes, quit Winipcfg and then run it again.

If your IP address was dynamically allocated by a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server, you can use the Release and Renew buttons to release and renew the IP address.

The following sections describe the settings displayed by the Winipcfg tool.

Adapter Address:

This string of hexadecimal numbers represents the hard-coded identification number assigned to the network adapter when it was manufactured. When you are viewing the IP configuration for a PPP connection using Dial-Up Networking, the number is set to a default, meaningless value (because modems are not hard-coded with this type of address).

IP Address:

This is the actual IP networking address that the computer is set to. It is either dynamically assigned to the computer upon connection to the network, or a static value that is manually entered in TCP/IP properties.

Subnet Mask:

The subnet mask is used to "mask" a portion of an IP address so that TCP/IP can determine whether any given IP address is on a local or remote network. Each computer configured with TCP/IP must have a subnet mask defined.

Default Gateway:

This specifies the IP address of the host on the local subnet that provides the physical connection to remote networks, and is used by default when TCP/IP needs to communicate with computers on other subnets.

The following settings are displayed if you click More Info:

DHCP Server:

This specifies the IP address of the DHCP server. The DHCP server provides the computer with a dynamically assigned IP address upon connection to the network. Clicking the Release and Renew buttons releases the IP address to the DHCP server and requests a new IP address from the DHCP server.

Primary and Secondary WINS Server:

These settings specify the IP address of the Primary and Secondary WINS servers (if available on the network). The WINS servers provide a service translating NetBIOS names (the alphanumeric computer names seen in the user interface) to their corresponding IP address.

Lease Obtained and Lease Expires:

These values show when the current IP address was obtained, and when the current IP address is due to expire. You can use the Release and Renew buttons to release and renew the current IP address, but this is not necessary because the DHCP client automatically attempts to renew the lease when 50 percent of the lease time has expired.

REFERENCES

For additional information about using the TCP/IP protocol in Windows 95, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q132736
   TITLE     : Windows 95 Networking Questions and Answers

   ARTICLE-ID: Q138789
   TITLE     : How to Connect to the Internet in Windows 95

Or, see pages 431-444 of the Microsoft Windows 95 Resource Kit.