NetSwitcher for Windows is a versatile network location setup and management tool for Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT4, and Windows 2000 computers.

NetSwitcher allows you to define network and other system settings in what is called a Location Profile and then restore that profile to the system whenever you need it. This can save you time when moving from one work location to the next. 

NetSwitcher is especially for those mobile computer users who move around to different locations.  NetSwitcher gets you working faster by restoring all the configuration parameters you need at each location in one operation.

Development Information

NetSwitcher was developed out of an idea which started in late 1995, shortly after Windows 95 was released.  Windows 95 included the new Dial-Up Network capability which made dialing into the Internet fast and easy.  Unfortunately, for those of us who also needed to connect to a LAN, there was a nasty problem, DNS servers.  It seemed that if one set of DNS servers was needed for the LAN, then there was no way to use another set of DNS server for Dial-Up without removing the LAN DNS servers.  This was a real headache and a better way had to be found. 

Shortly, the first product in this area, TCP Switcher was born.  TCP Switcher managed the DNS server settings between a LAN and Dial-Up configuration.  Later versions of TCP Switcher even detected the Dial-Up Network connection and automatically swapped the DNS server back and forth depending on what network interface was in use.  As soon as others struggling with this problem saw TCP Switcher, they had to have a copy of their own.  So we were "born" so to speak, out of a solution to a real world problem.

It soon became clear that TCP Switcher just didn't do enough.  Not only was managing DNS servers an issue for many users but for those lucky people who travel about the world with their laptops in hand and need to plug into an available network outlet, IP addresses, netmasks, gateways, WINS servers, proxy servers, were just to much to remember, much less understand for most users.  We started adding features to TCP Switcher and it quickly became clear that this was not the answer. 

As is sometimes the best action, we started over with a "blank sheet of paper" and began developing NetSwitcher.  The original goal was to have all the network settings that someone might want to manage on one screen where they could change them manually or load a new setup from a saved configuration file.  We rolled out the first copy of NetSwitcher in early 1996 and it was an immediate hit.  Coworkers who saw it wanted it and demanded to pay for it.  Oddly enough, the first person who paid for it had $20 but needed $12 for lunch that day.  I agreed to take the $8 he had available and the price seemed reasonable enough.

We posted a copy on TUCOWS about mid-1996 and all of a sudden the mailbox was full of checks for $8.  Some corporate users caught on to this thing and started asking if we'd sell them multiple licenses, or even company wide licenses.  Then one large company came along and threatened to buy a lot of copies if we could do the same thing for Windows NT4, which they used on all their company laptops.  Up until this point, NetSwitcher was Windows 95 only.

We set about to make NetSwitcher work on NT4 and after a few (well maybe more than a few!) long nights, it worked on NT4 as well as Windows 95.  It was a hit!  That customer bought a pile of licenses and it wasn't long before others were jumping at this as well.  Before long it became clear that we needed our own web site and so http://www.NetSwitcher.com was born.  I was amazed that the domain name "NetSwitcher.com" hadn't been taken already.  But hey, sometimes you're just blessed.

In mid 1999 we got our hands on a copy of Windows 2000 in the hopes of getting NetSwitcher running on that upcoming OS.  It soon became clear that there were a lot of little things that were changed.  NetSwitcher V2 was already becoming "spaghetti" code from all the "if(windows95), else if(windows98), else if(windowsNT)" code in it, not to mention the differences between OSR1, OSR2, OSR2.1, OSR2.5, DUN1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, WINSOCK1, and WINSOCK 2.  Again, we needed to start over and do it right with the ability to support multiple versions of Windows.  We also needed a way to release the "core" of NetSwitcher to some 3rd party developers who needed to do what NetSwitcher does from their own applications.

In mid 1999, we started what is now NetSwitcher V3.  This code has been rewritten from the ground up and is designed to be easily extensible and to easily support new versions of Windows and their inherent features.

We hope you find using NetSwitcher to be a real timesaver and please let us know if there is any was we can me it more valuable to you.

Author

NetSwitcher was designed and developed by J.W. Hance.  J.W. Hance is an independent software developer and consultant specializing in network programming, system configuration, NT services, and telecommunications.  J.W. Hance holds a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.  Which is, in my opinion, the top undergraduate engineering college in the US.  Recently, US News & World Reports has recognized this fact as well.  J.W. Hance is also a Licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.) by the State of Indiana.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions about our software design and development services whether they relate to NetSwitcher, its technology, or not.

Thanks....

It is unlikely that NetSwitcher would have been possible without the following products which were instrumental in its development: