Spiceworks is the complete network management & monitoring, helpdesk, PC inventory & software reporting solution to manage Everything IT in small and medium businesses.

Spiceworks 4.0 highlights:

• Simplify Even More of Everything IT
• IT User Portal
• Exchange 2007 Support
• Copy Others on Tickets
• Streamlined User Interface
• Spiceworks TV Widget
• Spiceworks Subscription Center
• Network MapBETA
• Collaborate with Other IT Pros
• Windows Event ID Collaboration
• Twitter Integration
• Make Spiceworks Do Even More for You!
• Microsoft & LiveOffice Plugins
  

• “Tickets Anywhere”

News source: Official website
Download: Spiceworks 4.0

In windows Vista, when you copying file from one computer to another computer through network it will show you the speed per second depending on You Network Adapter, HUB, Switch, Cable… you are using. You might still wondering how fast of your network? Or How to make your network high performance.

You network connection slow or fast depend on the Component of your connection, so that is very important to know that Which component that cause your network slow…

1. Network Adapter
A network adapter is the device that physically connects your computer to the network. The network itself will be Ethernet (which comes in three speeds, 10Megabit, 100Mb, and 1000Mb). So if you you have a low speed Ethernet adapter, You network speed will be limited by that adapter. Buy anther one!

2.Ethernet Hub or Switch
Most Ethernet networks use a hub or switch, which serves as the central connection point and moves data around. Like the network adapters, they have three speed ratings, 10Mb, 100Mb, and 1000Mb. Your switch must support the same speed as your network adapters to use it on your network. You should use a hub or switch that supports your full range of network adapter speeds, so you don’t limit the higher-speed computers.

Switches perform more efficiently than hubs in high-traffic networks, so it’s a good idea to use a switch

3.Motherboard Speed
The motherboard’s processing speed has inherent limits that include (to a degree) network performance. A faster motherboard generally means faster everything, including network performance. Upgrading the motherboard is a good decision also.

4.Hard Disk Read-Write Speed
Disk performance (how much information you can read or write from the disk in a second) is often the primary factor to network performance. Since most network data represents a file, your hard disk has to read the source file and another disk must write it to complete the data transfer.

You can improve your disk performance by using a faster disk, which makes more information available, and a more efficient disk interface, which processes more information at once.

Posted in How To Tagged: hard disk, How To, motherboard, network, network adapter, network speed, PC Tips

Are you experiencing problems with your computer network? Are these error messages appearing?:

• Unable to clear the DNS cache
• Unable to renew your IP address
• An operation was performed on something that is not a socket
• Unable to clear the ARP cache

If so, here are some potential solutions for Windows XP/Vista.

1. Check to make sure your computer is on and is connected to a network.
2. Be aware that Windows has a built in function to repair a network connection. This function can give valuable information in the form of an error message if you know what you are looking for. Some common error messages given are:
   • Unable to clear the DNS cache
   • Unable to renew your IP address
   • Unable to clear the ARP cache
3. Deal with a message that states “Unable to clear the DNS cache.” When you get the message “Unable to clear the DNS cache”, this usually means that the DNS client service has been disabled. Follow these steps as an administrator to re-enable it:
   • Open the Services MMC plugin, located under Administrative Tools in the Control Panel;
   • Find the “DNS Client” service in the list presented and enter it’s properties by double-clicking it;
   • Change the Startup Type from Disabled to Manual or Automatic then click apply;
   • Either reboot or click “Start” to start the service;
   • Verify by attempting to repair the connection again.
4. Fix a problem related to an IP address. If the repair process reports that it has been ‘Unable to obtain an IP address’, it is probable that more information can be obtained through the command line. Open a Command Prompt by going to Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt, then type ‘ipconfig /renew’ to attempt to obtain an IP address from the command line.
5. Follow up the error messages that will likely appear. There is a high likelihood of an error message similar to the one below occurring, the remainder of the guide will focus on this error.
   • “An operation was performed on something that is not a socket”
6. Fix the error message “An operation was performed on something that is not a socket.”: This is a Winsock corruption generally due to spyware. The fixes are:
   • A simple fix can be done with Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista (Start > Run > cmd > netsh winsock reset), then reboot your computer. If you do not have SP2, you can download a small program to reinstall Winsock: winsockfix.exe.

Posted in How To   Tagged: How To, network   

Do you need to shutdown a server or other remote computer? Need to do this from the convenience of your own PC? Here’s how to shutdown a remote Windows computer from your own desktop.

1. Open the command prompt. This may be done by clicking on the “Start” button, and selecting “Run”.
2. Type in cmd and press Enter.
3. Type in shutdown -m \\computername, replacing “computername” with the name of the computer you wish to shutdown or the computers ip address.
4. Experiment with the shutdown command’s switches.
   • -r will force a restart, disabling any services or user interaction from interrupting it.
   • -c “comment” will force a comment to appear on the system being shutdown.
   • -t xx will force a timeout for “xx” seconds. For example, -t 60 would perform a shutdown after a 60 second timeout.
   • -a will abort the shutdown
   • A full command example: shutdown -m \\myserver -r -c “This system will shutdown in 60 seconds” -t 60
5. Another method is to
   • type shutdown -i in the run window.
   • Click the “Add” box and type the name of the computer you want to shutdown or it’s IP address. You can select what you want the computer to do.
   • In this mode, it is NECESSARY to add a comment. Finally press “OK”

   Note:

• For a complete list of the switches (options) for the “shutdown” command, type in shutdown ? inside of a command prompt window.
• The target computer and your PC need to be in the same Domain or Workgroup for this to function correctly.
• This will only work on Microsoft Windows based systems. Linux and Mac will require different terminal commands.
• You may also run this shutdown command directly from the “Run” dialog. Opening a command prompt is merely a convenience in case you happen to type in the wrong system name or need to search for the name of the system to shutdown.

Posted in Command Line   Tagged: How To, network   

These instructions show how to connect two computers for the purpose of sharing data. This will let you share files and folders, printers, play network games, etc.

1. Choose a Network Address
   • Any network address will do for this purpose, so long as you understand the basics of how IPv4 works as explained below.
   • IPv4 (IP ver. 4) addresses are written like this: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (four numbers separated by three dots), in all RFC-1166 compliant countries. Each number ranges from 0 to 255. This is known as “Dotted Decimal Notation” or “Dot Notation” for short. The address is divided into two portions: the network portion and the host portion.

     For “Classful” networks, the network and host portions are as follows:
     (”n” represents the network portion, “x” represents the host portion)

     When the first number is 0 to 127 - nnn.xxx.xxx.xxx (ex. 10.xxx.xxx.xxx)
     These are known as “Class A” networks.

     When the first number is 128 to 191 - nnn.nnn.xxx.xxx (ex. 172.16.xxx.xxx)
     These are known as “Class B” networks.

     When the first number is 192 to 223 - nnn.nnn.nnn.xxx (ex. 192.168.1.xxx)
     These are known as “Class C” networks.

     When the first number is 224 to 239 - The address is used for multi-casting.

     When the first number is 240 to 255 - The address is “experimental”.

     The network portion specifies a network; the host portion specifies an individual device on a network.

     For any given network:

     • The range of all possible host portion numbers gives the Address Range.
       (ex. 172.16.xxx.xxx the range is 172.16.0.0 to 172.16.255.255)
     • The lowest possible address is the Network Address.
       (ex. 172.16.xxx.xxx the network address is 172.16.0.0)
       This address is used by devices to specify the network itself, and cannot be assigned to any device.
     • The highest possible address is the Broadcast Address.
       (ex. 172.16.xxx.xxx the broadcast address is 172.16.255.255)
       This address is used when a packet is meant for all devices on a specific network, and cannot be assigned to any device.
     • The remaining numbers in the range are the Host Range.
       (ex. 172.16.xxx.xxx the host range is 172.16.0.1 to 172.16.255.254)
       These are the numbers you can assign to computers, printers, and other devices.
       Host Addresses are individual addresses within this range.
2. Connect the two computers together.
   • To connect with a Crossover cable, simply plug an end of the cable into the Ethernet Port of each computer.
   • To connect with a Hub or Switch, use two strait through cables to connect each computer to the switch or hub.
   • See “Things you will need” section for more information on “Strait Through” -vs- “Cross-Over” Cables.
3. Configure the computers for networking. Go to internet options (this varies depending on the Operating System), and go to the dialog box that lets you change the TCP/IP protocol. Change the radio buttons from “Obtain from DHCP server automatically” to “Use the following IP address:”.
   • Give each computer a different address from the host range. Do not use the network address or the broadcast address.
   • Leave the “Default Gateway” and “DNS server” fields blank.
   • For the subnet mask, use the following:

     Class “A” Networks
     When the first number is 0 to 127
     The Mask is - 255.0.0.0

     Class “B” Networks
     When the first number is 128 to 191
     The Mask is - 255.255.0.0

     Class “C” Networks
     When the first number is 192 to 223
     The Mask is - 255.255.255.0

     IPv4 originally used the first number (ex. 192) to determine which part of the address is network and which part is host based on the address class. However, the advent of subnetting and nonclassful networking made it necessary to provide a mask because other ways of dividing the address into network and host portions are now possible.(More information in the Important Notes section.)

4. Verify connectivity. The simplest way to do this is with Ping. Bring up MS-DOS or the equivalent on other OS’s, (In Windows open the command prompt which is located in the Start Menu - Accessories - Command Prompt) and type in: “ping [insert IP address of the other computer here] (ex. 192.168.1.1). If you cannot reach the other computers address, read over the steps again or contact a professional.

Posted in How To   Tagged: How To, network