Occasionally it will be necessary to utilize the command prompt (formerly referred to as a DOS prompt) to execute commands or other services. The following tips will assist you with common issues and troubleshooting. To bring up the command prompt window go to start>run and type "command" in the box. A black window should appear with the C:\> prompt.

For commonly repetitive tasks, it may be appropriate to create a batch file, which is simply a text file with the .cmd or .bat file extension that upon execution, performs multiple tasks. This will be discussed in a future tutorial.

ipconfig
Diagnostic tool used to determine which TCP/IP values are using DHCP

netstat -an
Displays protocol statistics and current TCP/IP network connections. This command is available only if the TCP/IP protocol has been installed.

tracert
Sends a echo packet to designated IP or domain name to determine the route taken to that destination

Example: C:\> tracert 123.45.678

ping
Verifies the availability of the specified destination (e.g., IP address or URL)

Example: C:\> ping 123.45.678 or C:\> ping www.google.com

pathping
Combines both ping and tracert to determine which routers may be causing problems, such as packet loss

date
Used to view or modify system date

time
Used to view or modify system time in military format

exit
Used to close the command prompt window safely

Microsoft has an excellent page dedicated to Windows 2000 command prompt functions.