Command-line Utilities to check the Network Connectivity

Microsoft Windows 7 and Vista includes several diagnostic tools to monitor and repair network connections. Here are some of the most commonly used tools…

PING is one of the most useful IP-level utilities because it tests and verifies the connectivity to other computer. It replies with reports on the general speed (response time) of the network connection.

To use PING, click the Orb Ball (Start), search by typing “cmd” and then press Enter.

In the command interpreter window, type ping <ip address> or ping <domain name> e.g. ping 192.168.0.3 or ping yahoo.com

 

IPCONFIG - If you get a request timeout response to a ping command, usually, this means that there's a problem with the connectivity or configuration of the computer's networking information.

To check whether the settings is correct - use ipconfig/all command to view the configuration information.

 

TRACERT - This utility determines the path to an internet address, which is measured in hops. This is useful in
finding the reason why you can't connect to another network or website(s) on the internet.

To use Tracert, type tracert <ip address> or tracert <domain name> in a command interpreter window e.g. tracert yahoo.com

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Using Regdevelop to create Windows Update Registry Program

This tip will save you a lot of time removing some annoyances to your computer problems

One day, your computer automatically updates your windows installation, taking some few control out of it is good in our daily maintenance of our computer e.g. Turning off Autorun feature in Windows 7 and Windows update registry hacks.

Instead of going to the process again and again for maintenance and using the registry editor, just create a simple software for that.

If you have some experiences editing your windows registry, using Regdevelop is quite easy.

Drag the CheckBox control to the form and start configuring the program

Caption

Stop Windows update from changing the sleep/shutdown to “Install Updates and Shutdown"

RegKeyPath1

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

Value_Name1

NoAUAsDefaultShutdownOption

ValueData1

1

ValueType1

DWORD

In the UNCHEKED function of CheckBox Control simply changing the option to false will automatically set the ValueData2 to 0

After that, you can proceed with other checkbox options like getting rid of Windows update option

No Auto Reboot While Users are Logged On and Turning Off Windows from searching for Updates

Read here for the configuration details

Also, There’s an “Automatic installation of certain updates that neither interrupt Windows services nor restart Windows” feature in windows using AutoInstallMinorUpdates value

For creativity, Adding a picturebox control creates a border for good User Interface.

 

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Turning off Autorun feature in Windows 7

According to Wikipedia, Autoplay is a feature introduced in Windows XP which automatically checks and examines removable media and devices based on content such as pictures, music or video files once inserted.

The main purpose  of autorun is to have a software response to hardware actions that you start or plug on a computer. These features are typically called from removable media or from network shares. During Autoplay, the autorun.inf file from the media that is usual hidden is parsed.

Side effect

In versions of Windows that are earlier than Windows Vista and 7, when the media contains an Autorun command is inserted, the system automatically executes the program without requiring user consent.

For security reasons,  you can disable the feature using your windows registry.

Open your windows registry (win + r and type “regedit”)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

If the Explorer folder doesn’t exists, you can create by using the Right-Click on Policies folder then New option and Key, then type the name “explorer”

Next create a value named “NoDriveTypeAutoRun”

Double-Click to set the value according to the data below

NoDriveTypeAutorun

The registry value selectively disables specific Autorun features.

Value	Meaning
0xFF hex or 255 decimal	Disable Autorun on all kinds of drives
0x20 hex or 32 decimal	Disable Autorun on CD-ROM drives
0x10 hex or 16 decimal	Disable Autorun on network drives
0x8 hex or 8 decimal	Disable Autorun on fixed drives
0x4 hex or 4 decimal	Disable Autorun on removable drives
0x40 hex or 64 decimal	Disable Autorun on RAM disks
0x1 / 0x80 hex (128 decimal)	Disable Autorun on drives of unknown type

Useful tip from Microsoft: If you want to turn off Autorun for both removable drives (flash drives) and for network drives, you must add 0x4 and 0x10 (0x4 + 0x10) equals 0x14 (20 decimal).

NoDriveAutoRun registry value

You can set the values on specific drive connected to the system.

e.g. decimal 13 data value corresponds to 1101 in binary.

Reading from right to left, Drive letter A, C and D are the one to be affected.

Same bits configuration procedure for RegdevelopTM! what a small world…

Using Regdevelop to create your own AutoPlayOff software

If you already familiar with windows registry, using regdevelop to create application is very easy.

Drag the CheckBox control to the form and use the configurations below

Caption

Turn Off Autorun in all kinds of drives

RegKeyPath1

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

ValueName1

NoDriveTypeAutoRun

ValueData1

255

ValueType1

DWORD

DeleteWhenUnchecked

True

You’ll noticed that it is similar or the same as creating your own registry entries as shown above.

Click the Start icon to test the application and afterwards, press the Build Now option to start using the application.

That’s it!

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