Diagnosing Problems Using Network Map

Network Map

Network mapping is an important feature of windows vista used to find all the devices connected to the network. It represents all the devices in a graphic way. It uses link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD)  protocol. 

To display the map

1. click Start > Control panel. The control panel window appears. 

2. Select the NETWORK AND INTERNET icon. The network and internet window  appears. 

3. Select the NETWORK AND SHARING CENTER icon. The network and sharing center screen appears. 

4. Click VIEW FULL MAP. The network map window appears as shown in below 

Network mapping works on only private And domain network location with both wired and wireless networks. Windows Vista does not allow you to view the map for a public network. LLTD protocol maps the computers in a single subnet for example connection setup for home or small office. 

Some devices are shown separately map window. This may occur because all operating system and devices are not supported by LLTD or the devices are not configured properly. 

> COMPUTERS RUNNING WINDOWS XP- LLTD is installed by default in windows vista. However, the earlier version of windows does not include LLTD. LLTD client is available for windows XP and it is available through windows update. You can view that LLTD is install or not. 

> OTHER NETWORK DWVICES - LLTD works as an initiative fir the network hardware devices. It is not supported by all devices. The devices that include LLTD should be widely available in future. Most of the earlier devices are not recognised by the Network map. 

> CONFIGURATION PROBLEMS - For avoiding the problems, some settings should not be a public network and network the network discovery should on. 

In network connections, make sure that two LLTD related protocol (LINK LAYER TOPOLOGY DISCOVERY MAPPER I/O Driver and link layer topology discovery responder) are installed and enabled. 

If you are using windows filewall or another firewall, make sure that the exception should be enabled for file and printer sharing. 

TROUBLESHOOTING TCO/IP PROBLEMS

TCP/IP protocol is a default communication protocol for internet that is installed and configured automatically in windows vista and cannot be removed. Any kind of manual configuration for the connection is not required for installing it. The problem related to TCP/IP such as unable to connect with other computera in the same network and having some difficulty while coonecting to the external website may occurs. You can resolve the problem by checking and diagonosing the problem. Before you start using these tools, first make sure the computer you are trying to connect is switch is on. In wired network make sure it plugged into the network. If you are using ICS, make sure the ICS computer is switched on and running. 

CHECKING FOR CONNECTION PROBLEMS

Sometimes your computer network does not send and recieve data properly. To troubleshoot this problems, first check the connection between your computer and the rest of NETWORK. You can use ping command utility to check that the connection is alive between your computer and the rest of the network. If you are using ping command without any parameter, four echo diagrams and internet control message protocol (ICMP)  will be sent to the IP address that is specified by you. You can verify the network connection by recieving the reply from the other end. 

The use the ping command without parameter :- 

1. Open the run dialog box. 

2. Enter the cmd  command in the open box. 

3. Click OK. The command prompt will be opened. 

4. Type the ping target_name command in the command prompt,  where target name is the IP Address or name of the host computer. The output as shown below

> ping :: 1

> ping 127.0.0.1

> ping localhost

Use the ping command with your computers IP addresses. 

Use the ping command with IP address of another computer. 

Use ping command with IP address of the router or the default gateway. 

Use the ping command with IP address of DNS server with your network. 

Use the ping commant with a known host outside your network. 

Use the pathping command to contact the host that has been pinged in the previous step. 

You can also use the Tracerout utility to trace the problem. This is also a command line utility the syntax for this command is as following:

tracert target_name

Where target name is the host name or IP Address. It measure the time that is taken for reaching to the each hop. If it shows time-out or slow performance it indicates connectivity problem.