Managed Switch Port Mapping Tool version 2 Released

On November 23, 2012, we published the first release of Managed Switch Port Mapping Tool version 2 after three years of work. Version 2 is a truly major release adding many new features that have been requested by our users for quite awhile.

Switch Lists - map a list of predefined switches and automatically save their results to the History Database.


History Database - all switch mappings are automatically saved here, both from manual or switch list mappings. The database is searchable. Review a mapping later by loading it back into the results grid.

SNMPv3 - supports USM style SNMPv3 requests.

Command Line - run the app from the command line using various options. Use Windows Task Scheduler to map a switch or switch list when you need it mapped.

New Columns - 16 new columns supporting RMON and Cisco packet related counters including overruns etc. These columns include things like CRC errors, framing errors, overrun errors, ignored errors, collision errors, fragmented packet counts, and oversize or undersize packet counts.

The most important new columns are LLDP (link layer discovery protocol) and CDP (Cisco discovery protocol). If the switch is configured to communicate with these protocols, you can see devices like other switches and routers directly connected to a switch port. Information like mac address, IP address and capabilities are showed along with the attached device's corresponding physical port.

Faster - supports SNMP v2c/v3 Bulk Transfer mode to reduce required SNMP bandwidth.

Import ARP tables from text files. Use this for networks where IP/MAC address pairings are known.

Updated User Interface - has the Windows 8/Office 2013 look and feel using skins. You can change the appearance of the program to other styles.   There have been a few fine tuning releases since the initial release of v2 and we think you will agree that this is the best switch port mapping application available.   Get it at http://www.SwitchPortMapper.com/  

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.

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.

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?

Release != Debug: strange C++ problem

I've been working on the new Managed Switch Port Mapping Tool v2 quite a bit lately and ran into a strange problem: one function in the program (saving to an XML file) was causing it to hang up in Release mode, but never in Debug mode. The program imported three static libraries, one is the BCGSoft 18 library (cool stuff), another is the CodeProject Ultimate Grid (I'm the KVT in the source code notes) and the last is the CodeProject Ultimate Toolbox. Of the three, the BCGSoft libary is the most recent addition. This problem never happened in 1.99.9.8 and it doesn't use the BCGSoft library.

The first thing I did was convert the Release version code for all of them so that it included Debug info. That was a bit tedious, but went OK. Then I was able to press the Save button and step through to see where it was hanging up. That didn't go so well. It would hang up in different places. It seemed to be a stack or memory issue. I tried increasing stack and heap in the main executable, but it didn't help.

Finally after 5 hours, I decided to look and see just how much of the Ultimate Toolbox library I was actually using. It turns out I was only using the OXParser and OXRegistryItem. By moving them and their supporting files (roughly 6 other cpp and h) into the main executable, I was able to remove the linkage to the UTlibStaticR. I suspect that the BCGSoft library has some functions with the same name as Ultimate Toolbox, but I wasn't going to look through pages and pages of import listings to see wheich ones. Eliminating the library was simpler. And, yes, I put back the normal release settings to remove debugging from the release version and it works fine now.

Managed Switch Port Mapping Tool v1.99.9.8 Released

Yes, one more release of Managed Switch Port Mapping Tool v1.99.9.X. Since v2.0 is in beta I didn't really want to put out another release, but this was necessary. In fact, it was a beta tester who pointed out this problem and existed in both versions. It's actually not a bug, but more of a misinterpretation of the local network.

By default we activate the Ping Sweep function and prepopulate the Ping Sweep target table based on the computer's IPv4 address and subnet mask. That's all well and good if it's a 255.255.255.0 mask, but if it's a 255.255.0.0 mask as would happen in a 10.x.x.x private network, it creates a massive range of IPs that take forever to ping. The program doesn't hang, but it just takes a long time to deal with the range of IPs.

Now in v1.99.9.8 when you start a switch mapping, if it sees a large IP target range, you are given the opportunity to skip doing the ping sweep and continue on. You can always disable Ping Sweep or go in and change the target IP range.

Enjoy the new version:
http://www.SwitchPortMapper.com/

Kirk

ipPulse 1.83 Released

ipPulse was updated yesterday with a new minor version release 1.83.

This version adds results column sorting by clicking on the headers when the scanner is not in Run mode. It also adds the ability to drag and drop results headers so that you can reorder them - however, when you exit the program they go back to their original order. Another visible change is to the column 'autosizing'. There are now two right click options, one to autosize the visible columns and another to autosize and make visible all columns. Note that you can control which columns are visible in Settings.

Please visit http://www.nwpsw.com/ippulsemain.html

Kirk

Windows 8 RTM first impressions

Let's just say that trying to use the new interface (AKA the interface formerly known as Metro) on a desktop machine will only cause legacy desktop and laptop users to flee in droves to a Mac. At least Mountain Lion doesn't pretend to be a mobile OS on a fixed machine. At least on the Mac there is no huge learning curve coming from XP or 7. I've used Windows since 3.0 back in the early 90's and this is the most radical design departure I've ever seen. Will MS break the every other major version is a dud pattern with this?

My Installation Experience
I started by installing Windows 8 x86 Enterprise RTM (32 bit) in a Oracle VirtualBox VM. Simple enough in theory - well there were two install choices and neither of the clearly said install a new OS, but I finally figured out you select the lower one, not the upper one.

Got through to the point of selecting a login. I decided to go with the email address login instead of a local login. When I install the x64 version, it's going to have a local login. I presume you can add a local login somehow if you can find where they buried it. Suppose you have no local login and your internet is down - can you login? something I'm going to have to try.

After I finally got to the first screen, I saw it all looked very similar to the Windows 8 consumer preview, so I at least knew what to do. It requires a mouse click and move to drag the Space Needle and Mt Rainier picture up. Now here's my first complaint: I design my programs to be Section 508 compliant. How is click and drag compliant? a disabled person with a desktop or laptop PC who can't use a mouse is hosed. I've actually talked with people who can't use a mouse and use the tab key. For me it's not intuitive how they get past that first screen. So I tried the 'any' key and it worked to get to the login screen. Then I could login.

Problems with entering a Product Key in Windows 8 Enterprise

So right away I switched to the desktop, then moved my cursor to the lower right, selected Settings, then Control Panel (there must be a way to do this with using the mouse). I saw the usual things in Control Panel so I selected System and went to change the Product Key to match the one I was given in MSDN (I had thought it strange that I wasn't asked for one during install, but remember this is a Enterprise). I couldn't find the usual change product key selection, so I tried activating it. Oops. Got an 0x8007007B error code.

A quick search found a site called windows7hacker.com that had the answer. And I learned a couple new things there too. First was that you have to get to the Command Prompt. Sounds simple enough. Every NT kernel OS since NT 3.1 had an easy way, usually found in accessories. Guess what? no start button, no accessories, no command prompt...grrr...I take no credit for the following section, windows7hacker came up with this but it's in my own words.

How to get to an Administrative Privileges Command Prompt
1. If on the desktop, move your cursor to the lower right, a control bar for lack of a better description will pop out from the right, select Start. Back you go to the Start screen with all the humongous icons.
2. Here's the wierd part: just start typing command or cmd and the search menu automatically appears on the right with Apps listed on the left. At the top was command prompt.
3. Here is the tricky part RIGHT CLICK on the Command Prompt and a new control bar slides up from the bottom with five options, one of which is Run as administrator (I never would have guessed) - click on it, answer the UAC message with Yes and you're there. Something recognizable!

How to enter your Product Key from a Command Prompt
1. Do the steps above.
2. put in this command and press Enter: slmgr.vbs -ipk YOUR-ENTRPRISE-KEY-HERE
3. You will get an acknowledgement popup window.

How to Activate from a Command Prompt
1. from the same admin command prompt, enter: slmgr.vbs -ato

Restart Windows 8 and that part is done - you can use it now - well at least sort of use it depending on your experience with this interface.

So that's where things stand today. I'll be testing NetScanTools Pro and Wireshark on it soon. Remember you have to start those installers using Run as administrator or the WinPcap driver won't install.

Kirk

Memory Failure

No, not my own personal memory, although that's up for debate - a bank of memory failed in the old Dell Precision 670 that we kind of depend on daily to do mundane things like accounting. It happened shortly after morning startup, so nothing of importance was going on.

Here's what happened. I was starting all the programs and looking at email, then suddenly BSOD with a message I had never seen before:

Hardware Malfunction
Call your hardware vendor for support
This system has halted

Always a nice way to start your day. So I rebooted and got 1-3-2 beeps and the 4 lights on the front were G-Y-G-Y (or maybe Y-G-Y-G). Anyway, looking online I found that the problem was memory not recognized. Uh oh. At least it wasn't a CPU or power supply in that old computer or I'd be out buying new computer right now.

I pulled the computer and took it outside for a major dusting. I used canned air and blew out lots of dust. Sequim is a dusty place. Then I removed the memory and put them all back. The motherboard has 6 slots with 4 populated by 512M DDR2s (laugh if you must). Problem was still there.

I pulled the two in the middle two slots then powered up again with the same problem. Then I put the two I pulled in the top two slots. Powered up fine except now Windows 7 only has 1 Gig. It seems that the original two memory sticks went bad. Which one I don't know and I don't care. Ordered 4 new 1G from Newegg to be delivered on Monday (I hope). Now the old 670 will have 4 or 5 G depending on compatibility with the old memory and I should get another year or so out of it. Time to think about replacing that computer.

-Kirk

NetScanTools Pro v11.32 Released

This release is minor in that no new tools were added. We did add better error message reporting for both Ping and Traceroute in IPv6 mode plus some changes to reporting. In manual tools reports you can export the report data to a text file. The only problem was that there was no header telling you what the data was all about. That changed - it's there now. Another reporting change is in the web browser reports. For Port Scanning reports there is a new question asked of you that gives the option of showing or not showing non-responding port data. The SQLite dll was updated as were the databases.

If you have NetScanTools Pro installed or USB and an active maintenance plan, please click on Help/Check for New Version.

NetScanTools Sponsors NMAP

NetScanTools.com is sponsoring NMAP for the month of July. NMAP is by far the best port scanning tool available.

Visit http://nmap.org/ to see our sponsorship.

Kirk

Even Better Cisco Nexus Switch Support

I put out Managed Switch Port Mapper 1.99.9.7 (don't you love the numbering) yesterday with two changes in it. The biggest change affects Cisco® Nexus switches - most of this latest work was based on reporting by Nexus 5K owners, particularly a user with a 5596 running 5.0(3)N1(1c). I found out some important things about NX-OS bridge mib reporting that I won't share here to keep SolarWinds® in the dark. I accounted for the strangeness and now it maps Nexus well. I also found out another interesting thing about those switches and now all the MAC addresses should show up - more than in the last version - don't forget you can change the maximum per port MAC reporting limit in Global Settings - you may hit the default limit. That change has the potential to affect MAC reporting on IOS switches too, but I could not see a change in the Cisco switches I have in-house.

A minor fix was made to the processing of qBridge MIB data (affects pretty much everybody else including Cisco Small Business switches) to eliminate a potential infinite loop. We had no user reports of it happening, but now it will never happen.

This release has the usual MAC to Manufacturer database updates and the latest SQLite. Get it at http://www.switchportmapper.com/ and if you need a trial period reset code, contact us from there or from http://www.netscantools.com/email_general.html

-Kirk

Minor releases planned for this week

NetScanTools Pro 11.31 will be released with improvements in IPv6 error reporting in both ping and traceroute. Updates to SQLite and the databases will also be included.

We've been working with several Cisco Nexus series switch managers and found some strange things in what is reported by the switch - in one case the switch reports values outside what is defined in bridge mib. Those have now been accounted for and we plan on another minor release this week.

We at NetScanTools support World IPv6 Launch Day and we would like to tell you that we are incrementally adding IPv6 support to our software. NetScanTools Pro 11 currently has a number of tools supporting IPv6. NetScanTools LE will be doing whois lookups of IPv6 in the next release. Here are the IPv6 enabled tools in NetScanTools Pro 11.30:

• Ping (11.0+) and Traceroute (11.3+ only) both support IPv6 address targets both direct and through tunnels.
• DNS Tools accepts IPv6 input for Simple Query, NSLOOKUP, DiG, Get Basic DNS Records and IP to ASN.
• Network Neighbors (11.3+ only) shows the IPv6 equivalent of the ARP table.
• Packet Flooder can target IPv6 addresses with UDP packets.
• Packet Capture can capture IPv6 network traffic.
• Country to IP or ASN shows IPv6 allocations by country.
• Network Interfaces shows the IPv6 link local and global addresses assigned to each interface.
• Whois accepts IPv6 global address input to find the ownership or assignment of those addresses. (11.3+ works best)

If you have NetScanTools Pro 11.30 and an IPv6 capable OS like Windows 7, please try these tools. You can even use ::1 as input - that's the same as 127.0.0.1 or localhost in IPv4. Try a ping or traceroute to ipv6.google.com or a whois of 2620:0:1cfe:face:b00c::3. Be careful with Packet Flooder - use it with a link local address (starts with fe80:) of a nearby computer - don't forget the %scopeID number for link local addresses - see the IPv6 menu item to get the Scope ID.

Let us know if you like this hints and tips post.

Added Support for Cisco Nexus Switches

Cisco Nexus Switches are usually used in Data Centers and we have had a few people tell us that the Managed Switch Port Mapping Tool did not work properly. It appeared to talk with the switch OK, but did not give any MAC addresses or IP addresses even though most of the other columns were filled. And even more of a problem was that the program hung up while processing Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) information. Two big problems - both easily solved.

Since I didn't have a Nexus 5010 sitting around and I went into sticker shock when I looked at them on Ebay, I went to Facebook and Twitter to see if anyone had one - fortunately one of my customers (S. M.) did. I found out rapidly that NX-OS != IOS, so I had to find a section of NX mibs that gave me what was missing. I did and sent a couple test versions. The Nexus mapped just fine and gave us the MAC addresses - as long as STP was off.

Fixing STP was a bit harder, but I found a place in the processing of the STP data where information is retrieved from the SQL tables in a while loop. I saw the problem that caused it to never break out of the while loop and sent a test - problem solved. This was the second time I had worked this issue. I also made STP not an active column by default, but you can still put it in there using the Setting and Tools/Column Order and Visibility Editor. If you already have it visible, nothing changes.

Since I was working this minor release, I decided to look carefully at the error messaging and improved the text that the user sees - particularly on the very first SNMP query - if that one fails, you have configuration or settings problems that must be fixed - it's what you entered in Settings or your switch is misconfigured for SNMP.

All these changes are now in v1.99.9.6 released on June 6, 2012. Please visit http://www.SwitchPortMapper.com/ to get this latest version.

Have a good day! - Kirk

New Videos Added Daily

Our NetScanTools Pro 'How To' videos were in desperate need of updating, so we are doing one or two each day and posting them on our site and on YouTube. Please visit this page to see them:

http://www.netscantools.com/videos.html

We use Camtasia 7 to do these videos.

More NetScanTools LE News

Not only is NetScanTools LE on sale through the end of May 2012, but we decided to make it an open download for anyone to try - you don't have to go through a form. Downloads are now anonymous. Although it's geared towards law enforcement, anyone can use it. It has 13 tools that have less technical terminology and fewer options than NetScanTools Pro, but it still has the ability to find information you are looking for. Give it a try - and the $49 sale is on right now (Sorry - Sale ENDED May 31, 2012).

http://www.netscantools-le.com/

Worked on NetScanTools Pro Tech Details page this weekend

Completely reorganized and reformatted the NetScanTools Pro Technical Details page. This page directs you to the individual tool descriptions. Have a look:

http://www.netscantools.com/nstprodetails.html

Don't forget to check out the IPv6 tab on the far right. It shows a list of network tools that can talk or do things with IPv6 addresses. IPv6 is coming, so don't get left behind.

NetScanTools LE on Sale

This sale ended May 31, 2012, but you can now try NetScanTools LE immediately - visit http://www.netscantools.com/download.html


NetScanTools LE, our version of NetScanTools designed with law enforcement in mind, is on sale now through the end of May 2012. Normally $129, it is on sale for $49.

What is NetScanTools LE? please visit http://www.netscantools-le.com/ for more information.

Use this coupon when ordering at the reseller link below. Enter 'May2012LE' without the quotes in the coupon field, then press Recalculate.

https://www.plimus.com/jsp/buynow.jsp?contractId=2630672

IPv6 Network Neighbors in NetScanTools Pro 11.30

We introduced a new tool for IPv6 called Network Neighbors. This tool provides information similar to what the ARP Cache tool does for IPv4: a mapping of IPv6 addresses to physical addresses. Unlike the ARP Cache tool a physical address can be not only a MAC address, but it can also be an IPv4 address associated with a tunneling interface. You can see that in the image below.

Interesting things in this image are the global IPs that start with 2001: - one on those is the local address and the others are target addresses. Note also the large number of permanent multicast entries starting at the top with the ff02::c SSDP, ff02::16 All MLDv2-capable routers, ff02::1:2 All-dhcp-agents and finally the ff02::1:ffxx:xxxx solicited node address (RFC 4291).

You can see the lone fe80:: link local address attached to the only real physical network interface (NIC) in the computer. And you can even see the VMware player interfaces.

What you cannot see in the image is the interface alias, type and ifIndex (Scope ID).

This is new in NetScanTools Pro v11.30.

IPv6 Traceroute in NetScanTools Pro 11.30

NetScanTools Pro Traceroute can now do IPv6 traces. It can do native IPv6 (direct IPv6 connection) and tunneling traces such as through Teredo or 6to4. When you do a native IPv6 traceroute, you will potentially see every hop between you and the target. But with tunneling, it's different: you will see the tunneling server as the first hop even though it may be quite a few hops away. This is shown in the traceroute through a Teredo tunnel to ipv6.google.com shown below.

The hops you are seeing are from the teredo server itself is actually 8 hops from my computer. Since the Teredo server is tunneling IPv6 through UDP, I can trace to the server and find that it is 8 hops away - so in reality, to see all the hops from you to the target, you have to do two traces. But the important thing here is that IPv6 traceroute is now in NetScanTools Pro.

NetScanTools Pro version 11.30 released May 8, 2012

NetScanTools Pro v11.30 was released yesterday, May 8. There is a new tool designed for IPv6 called Network Neighbors. Several existing tools have changes to them: Traceroute now does IPv6 traces even through Teredo. Whois can now do Global IPv6 lookups and many new domain extension servers have been added to the database. Network Interfaces - Wireless now shows the MAC address (BSSID) of available access points even if you are not connected to them. And more - much more.

If you already have NetScanTools Pro v11, click on Help, then on Check for New Version and follow the instructions. If you want a demo, please visit http://www.netscantools.com/nstprodemorequest.html to get a version of the demo based on a slightly older version of 11.

Managed Switch Port Mapping Tool 1.99.9.5 Released

On April 15 we released Managed Switch Port Mapping Tool v1.99.9.5. This release makes an important change to the way VLANs are processed from qBridge Mib data. It will most likely affect the results seen from HP switches. It makes better use of the administratively assigned VLAN names.

Get it today at http://www.SwitchPortMapper.com/

How to install Wireshark on Windows 8

The title of this could also be "How to install WinPcap on Windows 8" or "How to install NetScanTools Pro on Windows 8". WinPcap is the packet capture driver used in both Wireshark and NetScanTools Pro (and LE). If you try to run the Wireshark installer, everything appears to install OK until you get to the WinPcap installer that it launches separately. The WinPcap installer refuses to run and shows an error about an unsupported operating system.

The solution is to run your 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: wireshark-win32-1.6.2.exe and right click on it to bring up the 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 Wireshark or NetScanTools Pro. Those installers both launch the WinPcap installer. It is the WinPcap installer that needs to be updated.

The good part about this is that now Wireshark now properly captures packets and NetScanTools Pro can both send and receive packets using WinPcap.

Update Oct 10, 2012: winpcap.org still shows version 4.1.2. With the public release of Windows 8 only a couple weeks away, we still are waiting on an updated WinPcap installer.

First Impressions of Windows 8

My first impressions of Windows 8 Consumer Preview can be summarized in two words: Radical Change.

Why do I say that? because this version of Windows clearly departs from earlier versions. Previous versions always provided backwards compatibility and using it was always obvious to the casual Windows user.

Windows 8 does things like force you to have an active Windows Live/Hotmail account. If that is really true, I know lots of off-the-internet secure labs that won't be happy. After you get past that, you are shown the Metro touchpad interface. While that may be all well and good if you are using a tablet or phone, that doesn't fly for a desktop installation (I put both the 32 and 64 bit versions into VirtualBox VMs). My son says that this looks exactly like the XBox interface.

So playing around with the touchpad interface with a mouse is kind of slow. The icons are huge and anything you install gets put on the right side of the default icons/pads. The two games they installed appear to rely on an internet connection (wonder how that will go over for dialup users - they still exist) and the pinball game was so slow I never even got it to fully load. This is on an 4 core, 8G ram machine...it might be faster natively installed instead of being in VirtualBox.

Going to the desktop that most Windows users are familiar with was pretty easy - there is an icon for that. But wait - the only thing on the desktop is the Recycle Bin and the taskbar only has IE and the Windows Explorer file manager. Where are things like Notepad? calculator? accessories? dare I say COMMAND PROMPT? If I search c:\windows I find the exe's but the casual home user isn't going to find them...trust me on that...I've talked to some home users that didn't know what a file was...

OK - so now I wanted to go back the Metro interface. After a long time I accidentally found that the funny looking Windows button (between ctrl and alt buttons) switches you between the desktop and metro. I never use that button - do you?

I wanted to run regedit just for kicks...guess what, no intuitive way to do that either, so I tried that win button with R. Up popped the run window. So I can do some things....grrrrrrrr

Now to the meat of things. I was able to install NetScanTools Pro/LE/basic on it, but the WinPcap driver install won't let me install. Same goes for Wireshark. The installer works, but WinPcap installer won't work - an unsupported version of Windows. Some people at Riverbed need to get to work on fixing that one soon!

Maybe I'm missing some things, but this version of windows appears to leave desktop and laptop users out in the cold.

Got any hints for me you are willing to share?

More on this topic soon...

Kirk

About Switch Port Mapper 1.99.9.3

On February 7, 2012 we put out another minor release of the Managed Switch Port Mapping Tool. This release changes the way the Last Change Time column information is presented. It now shows the elapsed time since the port changed from 'up' to 'down' or vice versa.

It's easier to show this in a video, so here it is on youtube:



Version 2 is well under way. Please visit us at http://www.SwitchPortMapper.com/

NetScanTools Pro 11.20 Released January 19

NetScanTools Pro v11.20 was release today. It has one new tool and 2 revised tools.

The new tool is called Country to IP or ASN. Select a country from the list and find the IPv4, IPv6 or ASN records assigned or allocated to that country. This tool works from a local database that is updated with each release. It is a complementary tool to the IP to Country tool and there are now 'jump' buttons on each to switch between them. This tool is really useful if you maintain a firewall or an email server. If you prefer to block a whole country - this is where you get your information.

DHCP Server Discovery now has the ability to do DHCP Discovery on more than one network. You can now select the network interface to do the discovery on. This would apply to a laptop running both a wired and wireless connection.

Port Scanner now allows you to do a port scan on a list of IPv4 addresses. This was something that existed in v10 and earlier, but we did not have it ready for the release of version 11. It's back and better than before.

There are a few other minor fixes. This release was planned for December, but some users made suggestions that were necessary (like the DHCP changes) and here we are.

Look for the USB version patch release next week.

Kirk

Managed Switch Port Mapping Tool v1.99.9.2 Released

v1.99.9.2 was released on Friday, January 6, 2012. This release has significant improvements to the qBridge mib processing algorithm. This version was tested extensively with Juniper switches in an enterprise setting and we think you will see quite a bit of improvement when mapping switches that report using qBridge mib. Cisco users will not see any change since Cisco uses standard bridge mib for reporting (with the exception of the Small Business series). Switch brands that may see mapping improvements are HP, Juniper, Netgear, D-Link, 3Com, Linksys, SMC, Nortel and the Cisco Small Business Series.

Please visit http://www.SwitchPortMapper.com/ to get the latest release or click on Help/Check for Update from within the program. If you need more trial time, please contact us.

Managed Switch Port Mapping Tool v1.99.9.1 Released

Yes, I know the version numbers look out of control - but it's a real important minor version. Only 5 lines of code changed, but they affected the way a table was updated from qBridge mib data. It's working fine now and this was all thanks to an end-user who made me aware of the problem on Friday Dec 30 (why is it always a Friday?).

Come and get it:
http://www.SwitchPortMapper.com/

Or if you have the program installed, click on Help/Check for Update.