Where does XP Home store TCP/IP settings?

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Guest

XP Home lets you save as many dial-up configurations and wireless network
settings as you like, but it only gives you two sets of LAN settings:
'general' and 'alternate.'

So if you have a promiscuous laptop that likes to plug itself into lots of
different ethernet holes, each requiring different settings (static/dynamic
IP, DNS server adresses, etc.), you have to feed the data into 'network
connections' by hand every time.

I want to backup those settings (registry keys, ini files, whatever XP uses
to store them) and make some batch files to quickly load different
configurations.

Of course I can only do that if I know where XP Home stores those settings.

<img src="http://images5.theimagehosting.com/tcpip.jpg">
 
XP Home lets you save as many dial-up configurations and wireless network
settings as you like, but it only gives you two sets of LAN settings:
'general' and 'alternate.'

So if you have a promiscuous laptop that likes to plug itself into lots of
different ethernet holes, each requiring different settings (static/dynamic
IP, DNS server adresses, etc.), you have to feed the data into 'network
connections' by hand every time.

I want to backup those settings (registry keys, ini files, whatever XP uses
to store them) and make some batch files to quickly load different
configurations.

Of course I can only do that if I know where XP Home stores those settings.

<img src="http://images5.theimagehosting.com/tcpip.jpg">
Click to expand...

The settings are stored in the system registry, which is a large, complex, and
non-text database. You can access the registry thru the registry editor.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/07/registry-editor.html>

You might want to look at netsh.exe, which lets you script common network
settings.
<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/242468>

There also might be one of several commercial products that will help.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/have-laptop-will-travel.html#ComplexSolutions>
 
666 said:
XP Home lets you save as many dial-up configurations and wireless network
settings as you like, but it only gives you two sets of LAN settings:
'general' and 'alternate.'

So if you have a promiscuous laptop that likes to plug itself into lots of
different ethernet holes, each requiring different settings (static/dynamic
IP, DNS server adresses, etc.), you have to feed the data into 'network
connections' by hand every time.

I want to backup those settings (registry keys, ini files, whatever XP uses
to store them) and make some batch files to quickly load different
configurations.

Of course I can only do that if I know where XP Home stores those settings.
Click to expand...

These programs let you store multiple network configurations and
switch between them easily:

NetSwitcher
http://www.netswitcher.com

MultiNetwork Manager
http://www.globesoft.com/mnm_home.html

Mobile Net Switch
http://www.mobilenetswitch.com

You can also use XP's built-in "netsh" command to make TCP/IP
settings. Create a batch file containing the appropriate command for
each of your network configurations.

To specify a fixed address:

netsh interface ip set address <connection> static <ip> <mask>
<gateway> <gateway metric>

For example:

netsh interface ip set address "Local Area Connection" static
192.168.0.100 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.254 10

netsh interface ip set address "Wireless Network Connection" static
10.20.30.100 255.0.0.0 10.0.0.1 20

To specify a DHCP address:

netsh interface ip set address <connection> dhcp

For example:

netsh interface ip set address "Local Area Connection" dhcp
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 
The settings are stored in the system registry, which is a large, complex...
Click to expand...

You're right, the registry is indeed a horrible monstrosity.

But which keys hold the tcp/ip setings?

So far I found these tcp/ip-suspect entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\{guid}\Parameters\Tcpip
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{guid}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Services\{guid}\Parameters\Tcpip
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{guid}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\{guid}\Parameters\Tcpip
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{guid}

I probably overlooked some more keys down in the dungeons of the registry. I
think I'm not gonna dig into that mess if batch files with netsh commands
will do the trick.

____________________________________________________________
windows.rogierstuger.com
 
:>

You're right, the registry is indeed a horrible monstrosity.

But which keys hold the tcp/ip setings?

So far I found these tcp/ip-suspect entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\{guid}\Parameters\Tcpip
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{guid}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Services\{guid}\Parameters\Tcpip
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{guid}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\{guid}\Parameters\Tcpip
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{guid}

I probably overlooked some more keys down in the dungeons of the registry. I
think I'm not gonna dig into that mess if batch files with netsh commands
will do the trick.

____________________________________________________________
windows.rogierstuger.com
Click to expand...

You're listing above simply two keys, in 3 instances (Current, 001, and 002).
And the information is in other places too. The advantage of using netsh is
that you don't have to know those other locations, nor how to load and unload
the values.

You're better off using netsh, or one of the commercial products which Steve and
I recommend.
 
Thanx for the netsh tutorial!

I have a couple of netsh command shortcuts now, so I don't need to get one
of those commercial programs which look suspiciously like graphical frontends
for the netsh command...
 
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