Windows Server Article Categories

Would you like to configure the IP address and DNS settings of your Windows PC just using the command prompt?  Rather than click through the user interface, these items can quickly be set with just a few commands. 

The first thing you need to identify is the name of the network interface you want to modify.  You can find the names of all network interfaces by running the following command:

netsh interface ipv4 show interfaces

This will list all the interfaces available.  In most cases, your wired network adapter will be called "Local Area Connection" but it may include a number at the end of the name.  It is important to use the full name in the commands below and surround it with quotes if the name contains spaces.   

How to set a static IP address

A static IP address can be set from the command prompt by running the netsh command at an administrative level prompt.  Make sure to substitute the parameters in the command below for your environment. 

netsh interface ip set address name="Local Area Connection" static 123.123.123.123 255.255.255.0 123.123.123.1 1

One of the first tasks an administrator must do after building a Windows Server Core machine is set the network address and configure the machine name and domain membership.  There are command line tools for all of those individual features but Microsoft included a useful command called sconfig that allows you to quickly configure basic server settings.

Microsoft removed the legacy Windows Help .hlp file viewer, winhlp32.exe, from Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2. Dating back to Windows 3.1, Microsoft says the Windows Help components have not been updated in years and no longer meets internal standards.  If you have an older application that still uses .hlp files and must be able to view .hlp files Microsoft has released an add-on that will restore the viewer.

The Windows Sysinternals group at Microsoft has released Disk2vhd that is a free physical to virtual converter. Disk2vhd allows you to create VHD (virtual hard dive) files from physical drives on your computer while your system is online. The VHD files generated can be used in Microsoft Virtual PC or on Hyper-V server and you will have an instant clone of your machine running virtually.  This is perfect for duplicating a production server for a development virtual machine that you can use on a different computer.

Starting in Windows Vista and Server 2008, Microsoft includes native support for IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) and is enabled by default.  IPv6 is the new computer address protocol that will eventually replace IPv4 which is currently the most popular standard. Unless you network has a specific requirement for IPv6, very few do, you can safely disable IPv6. Unlike other protocols, you cannot disable IPv6 by disabling the protocol on each of your network interfaces. While that will disable the protocol for the interfaces the loopback and tunnel interfaces will still have it enabled that can cause problems with applications.  The proper way to disable IPv6 is to disable via the registry.