Useful command line instructions

Just while I'm thinking about some of them:

netstat 20
Lists all the active tcp-ip connections, so you can check for hackers ;-)
(20 is the number of seconds before a repeat)

ipconfig /all
Lists info on all physical network connections

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

Tracert ipAddress/domain name
Traces network hops to remote locations so you can check a failing connection to see where it is failing.

There's a really useful one for rebuilding the Winsock protocol stack, but I don't have it to hand.

I'll add more of these as I think of them.

What has got my COM port?

Classic phone tools problem.



When you press the dial button you get this message.

"Com port is being used by another application.
Your call cannot be completed now."



But what application! What application is the COM port being used by.
What is the solution to making PhoneTools work?

Dogztar had a crack at some similar problems. As did moorhouselondon. Scroll down to the bottom of the pages to see the solutions. (Don't be put off by the "You need to be a premium member" message. Just scroll to the bottom of the page.)

In order to find out what is competing for the COM3 port, I uninstalled the Modem. In Windows XP when the machine is re-started, Windows automatically tries to re-install the Modem.



When windows tried to reinstall the modem, a COM port conflict message came up, alerting me that in my case it is ActiveSync attempting to connect via COM3 to my PDA which is causing the conflict.

This may not be the solution in all cases, but it was the source of the competition for the COM port in mine.

ActiveSync did not in any case need to access the PDA on the COM port, because it connects just fine using USB without it. With this option deselected, both PhoneTools and ActiveSync work correctly together on the PC.



Once I had deselected ActiveSync's attempts to connect on COM3 to my PDA, phone tools now works correctly again.

I'm new to blogging - where do I start?

Dear Dorset Software Consutants,
I will be setting up a blog later this summer and I'd love to hear some of your experiences with blogging.

I'm really after a number of bits of information. For a start what service would you recommend?

Who reads your blog? Is it public or private? How do I relate my blog to my business or other projects I am working on?

Many thanks for any help you can give me.

Rather than having one blog, you may notice that I have lots of blogs.
(And web sites, etc. etc.)

The blogs and sites and etc all connect up with each other in various different ways. This then provides multiple alternative routes into what is essentially all the same project.

The project has a number of different faces, each blog or web site provides a different face on the project, but from my point of view there is only ONE PROJECT.

The conclusion I came to is that really what an active participant in the global discourse on business, prosperity, productivity and accomplishment needs is not really a web-site or a blog or any such thing… more rather it is a “web presence”. You heard it here first!

;-)