Internet test utility?

[Harry Bloomfield]

Is there any software which will conduct a basic series of tests on my
Internet connection - Just an icon which when pressed checks out the
connection to my ISP's mail server, DNS and check that I can browse?

 

[Al Klein]

Is there any software which will conduct a basic series of tests on my
Internet connection - Just an icon which when pressed checks out the
connection to my ISP's mail server, DNS and check that I can browse?

Do a ping of your provider's mail server by name - that does the first
two. Open your browser and point it to a site that's almost
guaranteed to be up, like microsoft.com or aol.com.

The problem with a single program to do all 3, although this is almost
the definition of "trivial program", is that you still have to enter
at least your email server name, and maybe also a web site.

 

[Adam Piggott]

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Is there any software which will conduct a basic series of tests on my
Internet connection - Just an icon which when pressed checks out the
connection to my ISP's mail server, DNS and check that I can browse?

Try this in a batch file (internet.bat, for example). It may not work
unless you're using Windows 2000/XP.

@echo off
ping <Address [1]> > nul
if not %errorlevel%==0 echo Warning: Internet connection not detected.
ping <Address [2]> > nul
if not %errorlevel%==0 echo Warning: Mail server not responding.
ping <Address [3]> > nul
if not %errorlevel%==0 echo Warning: DNS malfunction.
ping <Address [4]> > nul
if not %errorlevel%==0 echo Warning: Web browsing problem.


[1] IP address: The first hop, that isn't your computer/router, that you
get when doing a "tracert" to any outside IP address

[2] IP address: The IP address of your ISPs mail server. This may change on
rare occasions.

[3] Host name: The "proper" name of your ISP's mail server/web site or
something else in their network, e.g. www.isp.co.uk

[4] Host name: The "proper" name of a server outside of your ISP's network,
e.g. www.google.com

HTH

Adam Piggott,
Proprietor,
Proactive Services (Computing)
http://www.proactiveservices.co.uk/
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[Frank Bohan]

Is there any software which will conduct a basic series of tests on my
Internet connection - Just an icon which when pressed checks out the
connection to my ISP's mail server, DNS and check that I can browse?

This might help:

http://ipaddress.com/

===

Frank Bohan
¶ Never argue with a fool -- People might not know the difference.

 

[ellis_jay]

Is there any software which will conduct a basic series of tests on my
Internet connection - Just an icon which when pressed checks out the
connection to my ISP's mail server, DNS and check that I can browse?

What's wrong with using Task Manager?

--
I don't know what's more pathetic, Jack Abramoff's sleaze or Republican
paralysis in the face of it. Abramoff walks out of a D.C. courthouse in
his pseudo-Hasidic homburg, and all that leading Republicans can do is
promise to return his money and remind everyone that some Democrats are
involved in the scandal, too.

That's a great G.O.P. talking point: some Democrats are so sleazy, they
get involved with the likes of us.

_______David Brooks


Ellis_Jay

 

[Al Klein]

@echo off
ping <Address [1]> > nul
if not %errorlevel%==0 echo Warning: Internet connection not detected.
ping <Address [2]> > nul

Some providers turn off ping response on some/all computers. Check
this when everything is working to be sure that these addresses can be
pinged.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Adam Piggott wrote :

Try this in a batch file (internet.bat, for example). It may not work
unless you're using Windows 2000/XP.

I was really looking for a neat ready to use Windows utility to do
this, however thanks for the suggestions....

I was not able to get ping to work as there would seem to be a slight
problem with my system. Typing ping.exe <address> works, ping <address>
does not - it just sits there cursor flashing until the DOS box is
forced to close. Replacing ping with ping.exe in the batch, produces
nothing. The ping command failed around 12 months ago and I have not
expended any effort on tracing the cause.

OS is WinXP.

 

[Adam Piggott]

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Adam Piggott wrote :



I was really looking for a neat ready to use Windows utility to do this,
however thanks for the suggestions....

I was not able to get ping to work as there would seem to be a slight
problem with my system. Typing ping.exe <address> works, ping <address>
does not - it just sits there cursor flashing until the DOS box is
forced to close. Replacing ping with ping.exe in the batch, produces
nothing. The ping command failed around 12 months ago and I have not
expended any effort on tracing the cause.

That's quite strange. I'd search your hard disk for ping.exe, ping.bat and
ping.cmd including system/hidden folders and see if there's some other
program with the same name that isn't working. You could also try renaming
ping.exe in C:\WINDOWS\system32 to ping.old. Windows should then realise
that it's gone missing and replace it with a backup - this may fix a
"broken" ping.exe.

If you type in "path" into a command prompt, is "C:\WINDOWS\system32" shown
in the list?

What happens if you type "ping" with no other options? Does it work if you
"cd C:\WINDOWS\system32" and then "ping" or "ping.exe"?

Adam Piggott,
Proprietor,
Proactive Services (Computing)
http://www.proactiveservices.co.uk/
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[Harry Bloomfield]

Adam Piggott has brought this to us :

That's quite strange. I'd search your hard disk for ping.exe, ping.bat and
ping.cmd including system/hidden folders and see if there's some other
program with the same name that isn't working.

There is no ping.bat. The command 'ping' seems to be defaulting to
ping.com, rather than ping.exe.

You could also try renaming
ping.exe in C:\WINDOWS\system32 to ping.old. Windows should then realise
that it's gone missing and replace it with a backup - this may fix a
"broken" ping.exe.

I don't think it is the ping.exe which is broken, as typing the
explicit ping.exe works exactly as it should. Rather it is ping.com
being called by ping instead of ping.exe

If you type in "path" into a command prompt, is "C:\WINDOWS\system32" shown
in the list?

system32 is in the path.

What happens if you type "ping" with no other options? Does it work if you
"cd C:\WINDOWS\system32" and then "ping" or "ping.exe"?

ping alone or ping <address> just shows a stuck DOS box with flashing
cursor, which has to be manually closed.

Typing ping.com produces the same as above.

 

[Adam Piggott]

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Adam Piggott has brought this to us :



There is no ping.bat. The command 'ping' seems to be defaulting to
ping.com, rather than ping.exe.

Ahh, possibly a remnant of a Windows 9x upgrade or a program once tried
out. I'd either rename it to ping.com.old or just delete it; your ping
problems should then be resolved, whether you go with my batch file idea or
not

Cheers

Adam Piggott,
Proprietor,
Proactive Services (Computing)
http://www.proactiveservices.co.uk/
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[Harry Bloomfield]

Adam Piggott formulated on Sunday :

Ahh, possibly a remnant of a Windows 9x upgrade or a program once tried
out. I'd either rename it to ping.com.old or just delete it; your ping
problems should then be resolved, whether you go with my batch file idea or
not

I have gone with the batch idea, with a few modifications to increase
its usefullness. Thanks for the suggestion and it works a treat

 

[Adam Piggott]

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Adam Piggott formulated on Sunday :



I have gone with the batch idea, with a few modifications to increase
its usefullness. Thanks for the suggestion and it works a treat

You're welcome
Sometimes a simple batch file does better then a "proper" program, as long
as one can see that being a batch file doesn't make it any less of a clean
solution!
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[David]

Adam Piggott has brought this to us :

There is no ping.bat. The command 'ping' seems to be defaulting to
ping.com, rather than ping.exe.


I don't think it is the ping.exe which is broken, as typing the
explicit ping.exe works exactly as it should. Rather it is ping.com
being called by ping instead of ping.exe

system32 is in the path.

ping alone or ping <address> just shows a stuck DOS box with flashing
cursor, which has to be manually closed.

Typing ping.com produces the same as above.

This is typical DOS/Windows/MS behaviour. The search for any
executable is done by first searching the current directory and then
all other directories in the PATH for each of .COM .EXE .BAT in turn.
The entire path is searched for .COM before any attempt is made to
search for .EXE.
--
David
Remove "farook" to reply
At the bottom of the application where it says
"sign here". I put "Sagittarius"
E-mail: justdas at iinet dot net dot au

 

[Al Klein]

This is typical DOS/Windows/MS behaviour. The search for any
executable is done by first searching the current directory and then
all other directories in the PATH for each of .COM .EXE .BAT in turn.
The entire path is searched for .COM before any attempt is made to
search for .EXE.

This is a holdover from DOS (actually CP/M 80) days. It's about time
they moved .com to 3rd place.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

David explained :

This is typical DOS/Windows/MS behaviour. The search for any
executable is done by first searching the current directory and then
all other directories in the PATH for each of .COM .EXE .BAT in turn.
The entire path is searched for .COM before any attempt is made to
search for .EXE.

Which, by the sound of it, means I have a copy of ping.com where it
didn't ought to be?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Harry Bloomfield used his keyboard to write :

David explained :

Which, by the sound of it, means I have a copy of ping.com where it didn't
ought to be?

That solved that

Ping.com in the path renamed to ping.com

Cheers...