Find All Details Of An IP Address Using IPNetInfo Desktop Utility

If you want to find additional details pertaining an IP address such as owner name and the country it’s registered on, you’d usually use an online service to retrieve the information. But unbelievably lazy folks among us (such as me) would prefer the use of a desktop application to get the job done with a single click – you type in the IP and the program returns the information – no browser involvement, no ads, nothing. IPNetInfo is a simple Windows application that can do just that. It can retrieve a host of information related to a single or multiple IP addresses instantly. The application is free, lightweight, does not require an installation (portable) and works with all Windows versions from Win 98 to Windows 7.

If you are curious to know how this piece of software works, an explanation is given in the app homepage:

The IP address information is retrieved by sending a request to the whois server of ARIN. If ARIN doesn't maintain the information about the requested IP address, a second request is sent to the whois server of RIPE, APNIC, LACNIC or AfriNIC.
After the IP address information is retrieved, IPNetInfo analyzes the Whois record and displays it in a table.

As an end user you’ll only see the final, formatted information organized into columns.

Another useful feature of this application is it’s ability to extract IP addresses from full Email headers. You might have received suspicious Emails claiming they were from a reputed service provider such as Google. IPNetInfo can help you verify the legitimacy of such emails – just paste the email header into the app and it’ll display detailed information about sender IP.

Download

Believe it or not this software comes in an archive file that’s only 48kb in file size.

[Click Here] to download the latest version of IPNetInfo

[Click Here] to visit the application homepage

DownTester – A desktop tool to test your download speed

I think probably everyone reading this article might have used SpeedTest.Net, an online service which lets you test the speed of your internet connection. Here is a desktop application that is somewhat similar to SpeedTest- DownTester lets you test the download speed between your computer and any other location you specify, including FTP servers. Once you are done testing your internet connection against multiple external servers, results can easily be exported to a text/HTML file. DownTester is lightweight, free and is compatible even with Windows 7. Best part about it is that the app is portable – there is no need to install.

Note that unlike SpeedTest, DownTester does not provide a list of servers to measure download speed – you have to specify them manually. The following is quoted from app homepage:

DownTester doesn't provide an official list of URLs for the speed test. If DownTester provide a URL list, all users of DownTester will use the same servers, and will eventually overload them.

Here's some instructions about how to choose your download URLs for your speed tests:

1. First, go to the Web site of your internet service provider, and try to locate the download URL provided for speed test, and if you find it, add this download URL into the list. Many ISP companies provide a download URL for speed test.
2. Go to the Web sites of large companies and locate some files to download. It's recommended to find files larger than 5 MB in order to insure that the speed result will be accurate. Some Web sites also provide mirrors across many countries, so you can use it to easily add download URLs of other countries.

Actually, there is much more to this application than it meets to the eye. DownTester can be an invaluable asset if you are trying to troubleshoot connection problems – to know more about the advanced uses of this app, I suggest you visit its homepage located here.

Download

[Click Here] to download latest version of DownTester (Direct Download)

WhoisThisDomain – Desktop WHOIS information search tool

When you want to find detailed information about a registered domain, you most probably will make use of the WHOIS record of it. To do this you need to connect to a WHOIS server and search for the specific domain. There are many online utilities to simply and automate this task but how about a desktop tool? WhoisThisDomain is a nice little desktop application which will fetch the information you need in a matter of seconds - all you have to do is to input the desired domain name. Below is a screenshot of the application responding to the search term ‘www.google.com’:

Developer Description

This utility allows you to easily get information about a registered domain. It automatically connect to the right WHOIS server, according to the top-level domain name, and retrieve the WHOIS record of the domain. It support both generic domains and country code domains.

Download

Of course, this is free software. What’s even more interesting is that WhoisThisDomain is only around 50KB in file size and does not require an installation.

[Click Here] to download the latest version of WhoisThisDomain from official server (link automatically updated with latest build)

How to configure ADSL modem to auto dial on startup & auto reconnect upon disconnection (XP/Vista)

On one of my machines I use an ADSL USB modem instead of a router. Unlike a router, this modem uses a dial up connection to connect to the internet – it does not automatically connect to the net when the system is booted up and nor does it automatically reconnect if the line is dropped. For those who are used to (or prefer) automated connection/re-connection, this can be pretty painful. This article tells you how to configure your dial up connection to auto connect at startup & to auto redial upon disconnection.

How to configure your ADSL modem to automatically connect at startup

For this to work, you need to have your dial up connection set up and username, password and phone number saved on the connection.

On Windows XP:

1. Open Control Panel and open Network Connections
2. Dial up and LAN connections you have created on your machine will be listed. Find the dial up connection you want to auto dial on startup, right click it and select properties.
3. Open the ‘Options’ tab. Uncheck the checkbox that says ‘Prompt for name, password, certificate, etc”. Also uncheck the ‘Prompt for phone number’ checkbox.
4. Press ok to close the options dialog.
5. Back in the Network Connections window, right click the dial up connection you just modified and click ‘create a shortcut’. Allow the shortcut to be placed on desktop as per the warning message.
6. Cut the shortcut from the desktop and paste it in your Start Menu—>Startup folder.

On Windows Vista

1. Open control panel and open Network and sharing center
2. From the list of options on the left panel, choose ‘manage network connections’. Dial up and LAN connections you have created on your machine will be listed. Find the dial up connection you want to auto dial on startup, right click it and select properties.
3. Steps 3 and onwards are the same for both Windows XP and Vista (follow instructions for XP method above)

How to configure your dial up connection to automatically redial if disconnected

On Windows XP

1. Open Control Panel and open Network Connections
2. Dial up and LAN connections you have created on your machine will be listed. Find the dial up connection you want to auto dial on startup, right click it and select properties.
3. Open the ‘Options’ tab. Under redial options, set the number of redial attempts to a number greater than 0 (something like 3 or 5 will do)
4. Set time between redial attempts to 30 seconds (some modems take some time to re-initialize after disconnection)
5. Check the ‘Redial if line is dropped’ check box and click ok to save and close the dialog box.
6. OPTIONAL: You may want to change your power saver settings so that the PC never auto switches to standby mode. Sometimes the computer go on standby before dial up networking can establish a new connection (if line dropped during an idle period).

On Windows Vista

1. Open control panel and open Network and sharing center
2. From the list of options on the left panel, choose ‘manage network connections’. Dial up and LAN connections you have created on your machine will be listed. Find the dial up connection you want to auto dial on startup, right click it and select properties.
3. Steps 3 and onwards are the same for both Windows XP and Vista (follow instructions for XP method above)

Here is a screenshot of how your dial up connection should be configured for auto dialup and auto re-connect.

Network Magic 4.8.8142 - Easily set up, manage and secure your network

Home networking is hard, no doubt about it. But Network Magic makes it easy to do all the things you want to with the computers and devices in your home. Things like sharing printers and files across all your computers, monitoring Internet use, and repairing broken Internet connections. No more emailing files to yourself just to print them out, no more wondering about where your kids are surfing on the Internet, no more waiting around for “the repair guy” to fix your wireless Internet.

Features

• Print from any computer in your home
• Share files between all your home computers – even Macs & PCs
• Monitor Internet use and Web sites visited for any computer in your home
• Pinpoint & repair Internet connection problems
• View a live map of your network
• Protect your wireless network from intruders

Read comments for more information.

WirelessMon 3.0.1000 : Wireless 802.11 WiFi monitoring software

WirelessMon is a software tool that allows users to monitor the status of wireless WiFi adapter(s) and gather information about nearby wireless access points and hot spots in real time. WirelessMon can log the information it collects into a file, while also providing comprehensive graphing of signal level and real time IP and 802.11 WiFi statistics.

Features

• Verify 802.11 network configuration is correct.
• Test WiFi hardware and device drivers are functioning correctly.
• Check signal levels from your local WiFi network and nearby networks.
• Help locate sources of interference to your network.
• Scan for hot spots in your local area (wardriving)
• Create signal strength maps of an area
• GPS support for logging and mapping signal strength
• Correctly locate your wireless antenna (especially important for directional antennas).
• Verify the security settings for local access points.
• Measure network speed & throughput and view available data rates.
• Help check Wifi network coverage and range

Read comments for more information.

17 essential network tools for your PC

This post will be useful if you are into computer networking; let it be administration of a large computer network or a simple home network. The torrent featured in this post brings together 17 widely popular networking tools in a nice all in one user interface. Clicking on the question mark icon next to a product name will take you to a 'more information' window while clicking on the padlock icon next to a product name will take you to the patch. Adobe reader logo beneath a product name will launch the user manual for the appropiate product.

Included in this torrent:

• 1st Network Admin v2.21 Server (Includes User Guide)
• 1st Network Admin v2.21 Workstation (Includes User Guide)
• CuteFTP Pro v8.1.0 Build 11.12.2007.12
• ISS BlackICE PC Protection v3.6 (Includes User Guide)
• ISS BlackICE Server Protection v3.6cq (Includes User Guide)
• Network Security Protector v2.1 Server (Includes User Guide)
• Network Security Protector v2.1 Workstation (Includes User Guide)
• O&O DiskImage v2.1.1499
• RemotelyAnywhere Network Console v8.0.163 (Includes User Guide)
• RemotelyAnywhere v8.0.668 Server (Includes User Guide)
• RemotelyAnywhere v8.0.668 Workstation (Includes User Guide)
• The Ultimate Troubleshooter v4.45
• UltraVNC v1.0.4 RC6 FREE (Includes Installation/ Configuration Instructions)
  VNC Scan Enterprise Console 2007 v11.29.2
• WinFTP Server v2.13
• WISE-FTP v5.5.6

More details of included apps

1st Network Admin v2.21
Language:English
http://www.softheap.com/netadmin.html
1st Network Admin offers a comprehensive protection for Windows-based network workstations under a public environment.

CuteFTP Pro v8.1.0 Build 11.12.2007.12
Language:English
http://www.globalscape.com/
CuteFTP Professional is a software tool for transferring files between your PC and remote computers anywhere on the Internet, securely and efficiently, over multiple Internet protocols.

ISS BlackICE PC Protection/ Server Protection v3.6
Language:English
www.iss.com
BlackICE teams a personal firewall with an advanced intrusion detection system to constantly watch your Internet connection for suspicious behavior. BlackICE responds immediately by alerting you to trouble and instantly blocking the threat. BlackICE automatically detects and blocks attacks through a comprehensive inspection of all inbound and outbound information to your computer.

Network Security Protector v2.1
Language: English
http://www.getfreefile.com/
This is the best network-based security software for corporations, publiclibraries, internet cafes, schools, universities and other public environment applications where administrator has to secure and maintain a lot of network
PC workstations located in different places.

OO DiskImage v2.1.1499
Language:English
http://www.oo-software.com/home/en/products/oodiskimage/ Make an image of the computer using O&O DiskImage Professional Edition. You can then simply boot the computer from the Start CD and restore the computer's image. Within a very short space of time, the computer is back in its previous form and with all the data available onceagain.

RemotelyAnywhere Network Console v8.0.163
Language:English
http://www.remotelyanywhere.com/
Network Console is the perfect tool for system administrators to detect, control and deploy RemotelyAnywhere on computers they support. This application runs on the administrator PC and allows them to instantly remote control, access and configure any of the computers on the network that have RemotelyAnywhere or LogMeIn IT Reach installed.

Remotely Anywhere v8.0.668 (Server and Workstation)
Language:English
OS:Win2000/XP/2003
http://www.remotelyanywhere.com/
Fast, secure system administration FROM ANYWHERE. RemotelyAnywhere 8 offers industry leading security and performance for remote administration. Join the thousands of enterprises that trust RemotelyAnywhere for ensuring total access to the systems they manage.

The Ultimate Troubleshooter V4.45
Language: English
http://www.answersthatwork.com/TUT_pages/TUT_information.htm
A staggering 65% of problems which a PC encounters (lockups, crashes, blue screens of death, slowness/sluggishness), whether in business or at home, are not caused by hardware problems, they are not caused by viruses, they are not caused by spyware they are caused by background tasks belonging largely to legitimate and well-known software you use every day !

UltraVNC 1.0.4 RC6
Language:English
http://ultravnc.sourceforge.net/
UltraVNC is an easy to use computer program that can display a screen of another computer (via internet or network) on your screen. UltraVNC will allow users you to use their mouse and keyboard to control the other PC remotely. It means that you can work on a remote computer, as if you were sitting in front of it, right from your current location.

VNCScan Enterprise Console 2007.11.29.2
Language:English
http://www.bozteck.com/
VNCScan is a popular Network Administration tool that allows you to remotely manage all of your desktops and servers from a single location. The first version was leased in the summer of 1999 and has been improving with each version ever since.

WinFTP Server v2.13
Language:English
http://www.wftpserver.com/
Win FTP Server is extremely powerful FTP server for Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista. It comes with an easy to use interface and speed enhancements. The server handles all basic FTP commands and offers easy account management and support for virtual directories.

WISE-FTP 5.5.6
Language:English
http://www.wise-ftp.com/
WISE-FTP is a powerful FTP client - an application that enables you to connect to any FTP server and download or upload files and directories.

Full credit to h33t uploader 'migel' and AIO creators 'NoNaMe' & 'takeIT'.

Read comments for more information.

EFF Releases Packet-Filtering Detector

Think your Internet service provider is “blocking, jamming, or degrading” your “ability to use particular applications, services,
or protocols?” The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) wants to help via Wireshark, software it released in late November to help verify or discount such suspicions.

The EFF is also including documentation on how to use the packet-forgery tester. The release stems from EFF accusations that Comcast used packet-forgery techniques to purposely interfere with file sharers’ activities. The EFF says it ran separate tests in October with the Associated Press and others showing Comcast was forging packets “to interfere with its subscribers’ and other Internet users’ ability to use file-sharing applications, like BitTorrent and Gnutella.”
The goods are available at www.eff.org/wp/detecting-packet-injection.

Source: Computer Power User (February 2008)