ConfigurationNSL can also be configure to operate in several different ways from the Config menu. First, you can set it to 'Auto Minimize'; this means when the program starts up, it will automatically show up on the system tray instead of a big window on the screen. Next, you can have it 'Auto Start', which will cause it to automatically run every time you reboot your machine (great to use with the auto minimize option). Another option is 'URL ClipCap', with this turned on, NetStat will scan the clipboard for URL's, and if it finds one it will auto- matically ping/traceroute it. With the 'Always on Top' option, the NSL dialog will be always above of other windows, so you can see the information no matter what else is on the screen. Finally, you can select which TCP/IP interface the program will monitor, or have it monitor all the interfaces - selection is made based on the IP address of the interface (and if the interface can't be found for some reason, it defaults back to ALL).
You can also select whether or not the values are displayed in bits or bytes (the default). Modems and other network devices normally list their stats in bits, so a 56k modem is really 56 kilobits, while a device like your harddisk uses bytes so 56K is really 56 kilobytes. TipsA couple points of interest about the program. First, it tracks all network activity; this means you can see how quickly data moves across your local network as well (as long as you're using TCP/IP). This also means that when it's used on a modem connection, you're seeing your actual throughput, not just what the dialup networking adapter or modem SAYS it's doing. The upside is that you'll see exa ctly what kind of performance you're getting while you are browsing around webpages. If you are interested in seeing exactly how fast you connection is, the best way is to download a binary file (make sure it will take more than 1 minute), and then look at the average reported. Because this program uses this technique, it means it's compatible with not only modems, but cable modems, DSL's, even network connections!The monthly incoming/outgoing totals are only accurate if you leave NSL running ALL the time, and do not exit the program before rebooting - this is KEY! If you exit the program before rebooting, then it will not store the current usage. TroubleshootingIf you encounter the error 'Couldn't load inetmib1.dll (0x0000001F) (31)', the most common cause of this is that there is are incompatible versions of inetmib1.dll and snmpapi.dll (which work together) installed on your system. There could also might be more than one copy of both of those files on your computer - there should only be one copy of each, and they should be found in the Windows/System directory). To find out the version numbers, right click on the file and choose 'Properties', then change to the 'Version' tab and you'll see exactly which version you have. The best way to find and remove duplicates is to use the Start Menu->Find->File or Folder and then run two separate searches, one for each of the DLL's. A copy of inetmib1.dll gets installed into the same directory as the executable (this is the one it uses, unless you delete it, in which case it uses the one currently installed in the System directory).There's no way (that I'm aware of) to get any more info about who, what, why, or where the problem arises from... I contacted Microsoft about it, and they say that it's usually caused by either a faulty network install, improperly written driver, or an unused or duplicate driver entry. If you're running Windows95, and get the message that it can't find the DLL 'snmpapi.dll', then you need to go to microsoft and download the Winsock and Winsock2 updates that they have available (in the Networking Tools section). You can find these at: http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/ If you're running to the message that it can't find the DLL 'inetmib1.dll', then you need to download the Dialup Networking Upgrade as well as the updates mentioed above.
ThanksSpecial thanks to Leo Laporte, over at ZDTV, the host of 'Call for Help' and 'The Screen Savers' for helping me test out and fine tune the program!For more info, and some cool music, and enough free programs to make even Microsoft look twice, make sure to check out the website at: http://www.analogx.com/ |
