Microsoft has set up the networking infrastructure in Windows Vista in such a manner that it requires only minimal user interaction, especially when the operating system has to interact with a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. DHCP is designed to take the user out of the equation of assigning an Internet Protocol (IP) address to a certain computer connected to a network, and making the process completely automatic. In order to set up or change the configuration of the TCP/IP settings make your way via the Start button, Control Panel, Network and Internet, Network and Sharing Center, and then Manage network connections.

In the Network Connections window, you will be able the see one or more connections depending on your system, right-click the connection you want to manage and select Properties from the contextual menu that will be displayed. Under the Networking tab, select either Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) or Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) depending on which protocol you use. Most likely, it is IPv4. Make sure that the Obtain an IP address automatically and Obtain an IPv6 address automatically are selected in order to automatically assign the IP addresses to your computers. (more…)

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In a worst case scenario, a piece of malicious code such as a Trojan Horse or a Downloader has infected your machine and is communicating via your Internet connection. Your computer could be a zombie machine in a botnet network, spamming immense quantities of emails and drastically impacting the performance of the operating system. Fortunately, both Windows Vista and Windows XP provide you with the means to monitor your Internet activity.

Netstat is a command line utility designed to allow you a closer view at “protocol statistics and current TCP/IP network connections. The netstat utility displays active TCP connections, ports on which the computer is listening, Ethernet statistics, the IP routing table, IPv4 statistics (for the IP, ICMP, TCP, and UDP protocols), and IPv6 statistics (for the IPv6, ICMPv6, TCP over IPv6, and UDP over IPv6 protocols).” (more…)

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