Then we have tcping. If you need to check if a single TCP/IP device is "alive" you'll most likely launch a command session under Windows and "ping" the target machine. What Windows ping uses to check on a remote machine is , or ICMP. Unfortunately, to foil hackers and the like, net admins will occasionally disable responding to ICMP, so, to test if an ICMP-blocked device is alive, you'll need to use some other protocol such as HTTP.

To do this you might choose another free tool, , published by Eli Fulkerson. Fulkerson describes this as "a small console application that operates similarly to 'ping,' however it works over a TCP port. Not a terribly interesting concept, but I had trouble finding a Windows utility to do this that I was happy with." I love this! Very useful, simple, does the job, and gets a Gearhead rating of 5 out of 5.

Gibbs is geeking out in Ventura, Calif. Express your techiness to gearhead@gibbs.com and follow him on Twitter (@quistuipater) and on Facebook (quistuipater).

in Network World's Software section.