About Network Toolbox

Network Toolbox is an easy-to-use network tool which provides you with access to 9 "UNIX-like" utilities which can be used to diagnose both your local machine as well as computers on a LAN or WAN.

Network Toolbox performs the following functions: Finger (obtains information about users on a specified computer), Quote (also known as Cookie, returns a unique quote from a UNIX quote server), Ping (determines if a network connection exists to a remote computer), Time Sync (obtains precise atomic clock synchronized time, and sets your PC clock if needed), IP Address Search (search for hosts in a specified range of IP adresses), Domain Name Service (convert IP addresses to hostnames or vice versa), Whois (querys the InterNIC registration database and obtains information about registered domains), Traceroute (trace the exact route to a host), and Winsock Information (information about your Windows 95 network stack).

Network Toolbox is an Internet tool used to access a number of specific Internet services to obtain information about computers on the Internet. It is an easy to use group of network utilities which provides you with a view of “What’s going on the Internet.”

Finger

Quote

Time Sync

DNS

IP Address Search

Whois

Ping

Traceroute

Winsock Information


Finger

Finger is an Internet service which allows you to obtain a list of active users on a host and retrieve information on a specific user. The remote host must be running a Finger server for you to be able to query that host.

By entering only the hostname (computer.company.com) you will obtain a list of users on that computer. You may also specify an exact username by entering the complete user address (user@computer.company.com) to retrieve information about the specific user. Additionally, you may double click on a specific user's name when viewing a complete list of users on a host – by double clicking on a username, you will see verbose information about that specific user, which is esentially the same as if you had entered the computer user address (user@computer.company.com).


Quote

Quote allows you to query a Cookie server which most often contains an entertaining quote (otherwise known as a fortune cookie) each time you contact that server.


Ping

Ping allows you to make a quick check to verify whether or not a host is accessible from your machine. It is most often used when you suspect that a host is down or not functioning properly.


Time Sync

Time Sync provides you with a quick way to properly synchronize your Windows 95 system clock with the National Institute of Standards and Technology atomic clock.

This program can be run from within Network Toolbox, or executed separately with the Time Sync icon in the Network Toolbox folder. If you are on a computer which has constant network access you may wish to make a shortcut of the Time Sync icon and drag it to your Program/Startup folder so that your computer will synchronize its clock every time you turn your PC on.


IP Address Search

This service allows you to make a quick scan of a range of IP addresses. It is useful for locating and identifying hosts on a particular subnet.


DNS

DNS (Domain Name Service) querys allow you to determine the IP address of specified host by its name or vice versa. For example, 198.137.240.92 is www.whitehouse.gov.


Whois

Whois service is a service provided by InterNIC (the main Internet registration authority). It allows you to obtain complete information about registered Internet domains and their respective owners and contacts (both administrative and technical). Whois is helpful when you are trying to locate information about a particular domain or are attempting to determine if the domain name your company is considering already exists.


Traceroute

The Internet is a complex mix of network. Traceroute allows you to track the exact route your packets follow and if there is a problem reaching your desired destination. If there is a problem in reaching the destination host, Traceroute allows you to easily determine where packets are being lost.


Winsock Information

Winsock information provides you with complete information about the Windows 95 network stack you are currently running.