Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Packet Flooder on Windows 8

A comment about using NetScanTools Pro v11 Packet Flooder on Windows 8. The default settings will only get you about 40% saturation on Win 8 32 or 64 bit. Our recent tests on 8-64 show that if you change the Data Payload Length to Fixed and select the MTU (usually 1460) or slightly below, you can get 95% saturation. Microsoft has changed some of the way the network layer operates since Windows 7.


Wednesday, November 14, 2012

How to install NetScanTools Pro or WinPcap on Windows 8

WinPcap is the packet capture driver used in both NetScanTools Pro and LE. If you try to run the NetScanTools installer, everything appears to install OK until you get to the WinPcap 4.1.2 installer that we launch separately. The WinPcap installer refuses to run and shows an error about an unsupported operating system.
The solution is to run the installer in compability mode. Here's how:
1. from within Windows 8 (32 or 64 bit) get to the desktop and launch Windows Explorer.

2. locate your installer file, example: nst*.exe or WinPcap_4_1_2.exe (get WinPcap here) and right click on it to bring up the popup menu.

3. select "Troubleshoot compatibility" and wait a few seconds for it to do it's thing. Then click on "Try recommended settings". It will most likely show Windows Compatibility Mode of Windows XP (service pack 3).

4. Click on "Test the program..." the installer will start - follow the installer directions as you normally would. When you get to actually running the WinPcap installer you may see a message "This program has compatibility issues" - select "Run the program without getting help". WinPcap should now install.

5. When it's all done, click on Cancel instead of Next back on the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter window.

The problem is not NetScanTools Pro/LE. Those installers both launch the WinPcap installer. It is the WinPcap installer that needs to be updated.

The good part is WinPcap works fine on Windows 8 once it is installed.

Update Nov 17, 2012: winpcap.org still shows version 4.1.2. We still are waiting on an updated WinPcap installer.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

What did they do to Skype on Windows 8?

I'm a long time Skype user. Let me qualify that - I've used the free version of Skype for years on an old Vista laptop. I'm used to being able to do conferencing and have all sorts of options and settings. We just got an inexpensive Lenovo laptop for my daughter and it came with Windows 8. So I decided to get the Skype free version up and running so she could do the same thing with another sibling. Installation was different - having to go through the 'Store' and all, but I though OK...whatever.

Then I started it up. Unrecognizable. It made me login with a Microsoft Live or Hotmail account instead of creating a Skype account. And then were almost zero options. I finally figured out how to look for the other pre-Microsoft Skype accounts that I wanted her to have access to and got those listed.

What threw me was the UI. In an effort to simplify it and make it useful to mobile platforms (which a classic laptop is not really) they've oversimplified it. I couldn't find camera controls, mic controls or anything I was used to. Maybe I'm overlooking them, but as a developer who has developed Windows programs since 3.1, this is a bit too simple for me. How do you do voice only conference calls? Group video calling? Couldn't find them. Right clicking didn't help. Maybe they are in a different version. Where are those things?