Ever have a problem determining the IP Addresses utilized on your network? How about determing the IP Addresses of the remote devices when connected via VPN? How about when the DHCP Clients table failed to display the Static IP Addresses on your network? Well worry no more, there is actually a tool that allows you to scan the IP Addresses of the network whether it's local or remote. It is called IP Scanner.

For this example I am utilizing a regular IP Scanner which you can easily download for free from just about anywhere. Check how an IP Scanner looks like.

















So after filling in the fields and scanning the network, it will display the lists of IP Addresses on the range you selected. It is very easy to determine whether a certain IP Address is active or not just by looking at the colors. If it's GREEN then it's good but if RED then it's a dead IP.




















From the screenshot above, you will notice that there are two fields that you should be filling in. It actually displays as a range of IP Addresses on your network. For my example, I utilize my local IP Address which 10.200.1.1 to 10.200.1.255. If you notice, it only differs on the last of octet of my IP Address 1 to 255. This gives me the range of that one subnet. Of course, the field entries will differ to the IP Address of your network but again, I suggest that you use the 1 to 255 range when scanning for IP addresses.

So there you can do the same procedure over and over to determine the active IP Addresses of your network.

Quoting Wikipedia:


“File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used to exchange and manipulate files over a TCP/IP based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server applications. Applications were originally interactive command-line tools with a standardized command syntax, but graphical user interfaces have been developed for all desktop operating systems in use today. FTP is also often used as an application component to automatically transfer files for program internal functions. FTP can be used with user-based password authentication or with anonymous user access.”


When using IE6 (Internet Explorer 6), FTP users can easily copy and paste files on the browser. They can either do the classic drag and drop or copy and paste. Unfortunately, all of that changes when IE7 and IE8 were released. The new version of the browser doesn’t display the usual folder icons on the page instead it gives you a list of the folders and files you have on your FTP Site. Below is a picture of what I mean.
















With this method, it will be very incoventient for some non-technical users on uploading their files to their FTP Site. Little that everyone knows is that there is actually option on the browser that would allow you to browse your files just like Windows Explorer. All you have to do is click on the Page Option of your IE browser then click on Open FTP Site on Windows Explorer.




















The moment you select that option, an  Explorer window will open and from there you can start uploading your files on your FTP Site.














To change the user access of your FTP Site, you can easily right-clik anywhere on the window and select Login As as indicated on the screenshot below.

























So there, you can now start uploading and download your files on your FTP Site.

When Windows 7 emerge on the ever growing OS wars, Microsoft has finally developed the OS that can be considered a true successor of Windows XP. With it's unexpected flunk from Vista, Microsoft has learned their lessons and redeemed their lost honor.

On the other side, New Operating System means new trials. New challenges awaits us on how to configure our devices or software to work with the OS. Or by the least, make it work.

Looking back 10 years ago, I first had a glimpse of a product that has revolutionize printing. The print servers. I had the first experience of printing thru a print server with my old Linksys box, the EPSX3. This device stayed with me for more than 5 years until i finally decided to move up and start using USB printers and challenge myself to use a wireless print server to par. One thing that i have realized from this experience is that it's not easy to setup a print server especially if you have little knowledge on how it works. Well, from a quick research and plenty of technical support calls I finally learned to figure out on how to make my little Print Server work. To make my story short, i have realized that almost all print servers are configure the same way regardless of what version of Windows you are using. I say Windows because i'm not a big fan of MAC nor Linux. The best and easiest method on configuring your print server to work with your printer is still LPR (Line Printer Remote). And this is basically what i'll be babbling on this article. How to do LPR on Windows 7?

To begin, it always goes to whether or not you (for this matter, me) have installed the printer drivers to the computer. Different Operating Systems could sometimes mean different set of drivers. Printer drivers should be installed properly on your computer first and make sure your computer can print fine when the printer is wired to it. This would be a deciding factor whether or not you have installed the printer drivers correctly. Afterwards, proceed immediately in configuring your print server. You can refer to your Print Server documentation on how to do it. Basically, we only need two things from it, its IP Address and make sure we can ping that IP Address. The moment you determine the IP of your print server, go to Devices and Printer window on your Windows 7 computer.



For my setup, I am using an HP Officejet 7400 printer.



Right click on your printer icon and click Printer Properties.



On the next window, it will show the same nauseating options and tabs like your XP and Vista. And from here, it should be smooth sailing. Click on Add Port and proceed with the wizard.



Select Standard TCP IP and make sure to click New Port. Not "New Port Type".



Proceed with the wizard.



Input the IP Address of your print server and do NOT worry about the Port Name since it will automatically be filled in. Focus on the IP Address field only. Proceed with the wizard afterwards.



By default, Standard is selected. But since we are not using standard ports, click on Custom and proceed to Settings.



Make sure you select LPR, and feel free to input anything under Queue Name. Usually i just input either L1, L2 or L3. Press Ok afterwards then proceed with the wizard again until you complete it.





Don't forget to Apply the settings the moment you finish the wizard.

You can now start printing through your Print Server. Cheers!!!

With the updates and patches run by Microsoft on all their Operating Systems, it is inevitable that you will experience this problem regardless if you’re using Vista or XP.

For Vista users you will get a message “Enter Credentials” the moment you connect to your wireless network. You will be prompted to input a Username, Password and a Domain Login eventhough you are not connected to any domain at all.



For XP on the other hand, a message “Validating Identity” appears when you connect to your SSID.

So how do we do away with these problems?

Well, the quick and sure way to fix this is to change your wireless security to WPA. But if WPA is not an option on your router then you don’t have a choice but to proceed reading this article. Lol…

To put it blatantly, all you have to do is to create manually a “Preferred Network”. A preferred network is the profile of your own network. It is where your SSID and wireless security are saved allowing you to automatically connect to your network even after restarting or shutting your computer down.

Creating a preferred network is different on XP and Vista, and this is the root of this article. How to create a preferred network?

For XP, you can right click on your wireless icon on your system tray and select View Available Wireless Network.



Then under Related Tasks, click on Change Advance Settings



Make sure that you're on the tab that says Wireless Networks then click on ADD.



Manually input the settings of your wireless network like the SSID and WEP for data encryption. Make sure that the check box "The Key is Provided for me Automatically" is always UNcheck for you to input your WEP Key on the Network Key and Confirm Network Key fields.



Then proceed to the Authentication Tab and uncheck Enable IEEE. Press Ok twice afterwards and you're done.



Notice then that your Wireless icon on the System Tray will say CONNECTED without you do anything.

For Vista computers, open your Network and Sharing Center window just like the one below.



Click on Manage Wireless Network to proceed on creating a preferred network.





Select Manually Create a Network Profile and proceed on inputting your Network settings just like what we did earlier on XP. Press Next once you're done.





On the next window, make sure that you don't click on any of the selections. Instead, immediately click on close. This allows your preferred network to automatically connect to your wireless router.



Now you're done. Your computers should be able to connect wirelessly now to your router using WEP security.