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Netsh.exe is fantastic tool from Microsoft that allows administrators and users to monitor and change networking for Windows from the command prompt.

For the full options and switches that can be used with the command, type

netsh /?

Followed by Enter to view the list.

Here are some examples that you can use.

To view your TCP/IP settings type.

netsh interface ip show config

To set your network interface named Local area connection IP address to static and supply the values

netsh interface ip set address name=”Local Area Connection” static <IP> <Subnet mask> <Gateway>

For example

netsh interface ip set address name=”Local Area Connection” static 192.168.1.15 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1 1

Note the above should be on one line.

To configure “Local Area Connection” to obtain IP address and others through DHCP.

netsh interface ip set address “Local Area Connection” dhcp

To specify DNS server for an interface.

netsh interface ip set dns “Local Area Connection” static 192.168.1.17

To specify WINS server for an interface.

netsh interface ip set WINS “Local Area Connection” static 192.168.1.17

To export your current network settings including IP address and others, type the following.

netsh -c interface dump > <path to network settings file>

For example.

netsh -c interface dump > c:\networksettings.txt

To import settings from a file previously dumped.

netsh -f <path to network settings file>

For example.

netsh -f c:\networksettings.txt

To reset the TCP/IP stack to default,

netsh interface ip reset C:\resettcpiplog.txt

To turn the Windows firewall off

netsh firewall set opmode disable

To turn it back on

netsh firewall set opmode enable

To disable firewall on computer in a domain environment.

netsh firewall set opmode mode=DISABLE profile=DOMAIN

Gathering firewall status and configuration information

Netsh firewall show state
Netsh firewall show config

To allow a port through firewall.

netsh firewall add portopening <protocol> <port> <descriptiveName> [mode] [scope [addresses]] [profile]

The above should be on one line.

Please note that

*  protocol is TCP, UDP or ALL;
* port is a port in the 1-65535 range;
* descriptiveName is a descriptive name, surrounded in quotes if it contains spaces;
* mode is ENABLE or DISABLE;
* scope is ALL, SUBNET or CUSTOM. If you use CUSTOM then you must specify the addresses;
* addresses if the scope field is set to CUSTOM, this field is a comma-separated list of allowed addresses;
* profile is CURRENT, DOMAIN, STANDARD or ALL.

To delete the firewall exception.

netsh firewall delete portopening <protocol> <port>

Here is the reference page directly from Microsoft.

If you notice that you are not getting security updates after installing Windows XP Service Pack 3, then you are one of the unfortunate people that got hit by that mysterious bug/behavior of SP3.

Follow these steps to correct this issue.

1. Log on as an administrator, or as a user that has administrator access.

2. Click start, Run, and then type CMD, and then click OK.

3. From the DOS command box, issue the following commands, hitting the enter key after each one.

net stop wuauserv

cd \windows\system32

regsvr32 wups2.dll

net start wuauserv

4. Windows should start receiving Windows updates from now on.

Microsoft decided to have this approach that other opertaing systems have (hide the administrator account access from the average user) to prevent security problems.

The account is added during initial setup but is set to be inactive, that is why the user doesn’t see it.