Anyone using Earthlink!

If she is using Earthlink's dial-up, then the IP is going to change each time she dials and gets a connection.

If this is a Windows O/S machine, she can go to the Command Prompt by entering COMMAND in the run box and press the enter-key, which will take her to DOS.

She can then enter IPCONFIG /ALL and press the enter-key, which will show her the IP the machine has that was issued by the ISP and the DNS IP(s) of the ISP the machine is using. It doesn't matter if it's a dial-up or not enter IPCONFIG /ALL at the Command Prompt.

Duane :)

Right I will try that.

Thank you

If she has Earthlink DSSL then she is using a PPPoE connection. This will produce some odd IP configuraions at IPCONFIG. FOr instance, here's mine.

Connection Type: PPPoE Internet IP Address: 68.###.###.### Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.255 Default Gateway: 172.31.255.251 DNS IP Address: 207.###.###.### MAC Address: 00:13:10:B8:2D:0F

Normally this would be a totally invlaid config since I have no valid network or valid gateway. But It is not unusual. The 68.###.###.### is my public address and is pingable BECAUSE I CONFIGURED IT TO BE PINGABLE.

WIndows XP SP2 blocks all ICMP(ping, traceroute, etc) traffic as part of the firewall. If you use a Router, they typically offer to ignore WAN pings. PING is not a completely reliable protocol because many devices block it to discourage scans and attacks.

If she has a router then her PC would have a local private address

192.168.x.x 172.16.x.x - 172.31.x.x 10.x.x.x

And the router would hold the Internet address.

Alec wrote:

There could be other reasons for your "ping" failure. Perhaps you could tell us exactly what you want to accomplish. Why do you care if you can ping the machine?

-Frank

What's preventing her from asking her own computer what address it is using? If you are using windows NT, w2k, or XP, the command "ipconfig /all". If you are using Windows 9X, ME then winipcfg and the more button.

In your zeal to hide the IP information, you over did it. But let's see:

[compton ~]$ grep ' 172\\.' IP.ADDR/stats/[ALR]* IP.ADDR/stats/ARIN.gz:US 172.128.0.0 255.192.0.0 allocated IP.ADDR/stats/ARIN.gz:US 172.192.0.0 1638400 allocated [compton ~]$ grep -c ' 66\\.' IP.ADDR/stats/[ALR]* IP.ADDR/stats/AFRINIC:2 IP.ADDR/stats/APNIC:0 IP.ADDR/stats/ARIN:754 IP.ADDR/stats/LACNIC:3 IP.ADDR/stats/RIPE:0 [compton ~]$

So, for the 66.XXX.XXX.XXX block, there are 759 ISPs around the world that have assignments. Pretty useless. On the other hand, ARIN has only two blocks assigned, which combined are 172.128.0.0 to 172.216.255.255, and those belong to AOL. I rather doubt that's what you are referring to, but there is a third address block not listed:

1918 Address Allocation for Private Internets. Y. Rekhter, B. Moskowitz, D. Karrenberg, G. J. de Groot, E. Lear. February 1996. (Format: TXT=22270 bytes) (Obsoletes RFC1627, RFC1597) (Also BCP0005) (Status: BEST CURRENT PRACTICE) 3330 Special-Use IPv4 Addresses. IANA. September 2002. (Format: TXT=16200 bytes) (Status: INFORMATIONAL) 172.16.0.0/12 - This block is set aside for use in private networks. Its intended use is documented in [RFC1918]. Addresses within this block should not appear on the public Internet.

That's 172.16.0.0 through 172.31.255.255. Those addresses are normally used behind NAT routers. You can't connect to them from the Internet, because they are not assigned to any one entity, and can be used, like the more familiar 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 and 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 range at homes.

No, 172.16.0.0/12 is handed out for systems that do not need to be contacted directly by someone else on the Internet. Sounds as if your friend is NATed and not directly reachable from the world, although she can reach OUT to the world.

Old guy

Install free Sygate firewall. The traffic log will show the computer IP and remote site IP for each connection (in/out) to internet. Casey

I had a PC problem a short while ago, had to re-install (not a virus). Before that I did connect so it is possible. For some reason the same connections are not getting a response.

It is a relative, I have been asked to look in on her system everynow and then just in case thyere is a simple problem I can help with. More complicated then a local expert!

Pinging..... when I have had a problem here the first thinmg they do is ask you to ping certainaddresses. I guess to make sure the basics are right. I do not have the knowledge to argue.

Of course I ahve asked her to trace her IP address. That is the information I have used. She got it from Earthlink.

How do you want to "look in on her system "? What technology?

-Frank