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Want to understand the nbtstat utility

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Hi;

I am trying to find out how to use some of the utilities like nbtstat, netstat, arp, tracert, ping, etc. I have posted this thread elsewhere in the hopes that someone somewhere can help me use and interpret the results. I am posting it here as well. Thanks in advance.

I took a Networking course at college and learned the basics about networking. We did a cram course and did not have time to finish the entire textbook. So I took it upon myself to try and finish it and I have run into some difficulties in understanding some utilities.

One of these is the nbtstat utility. My textbook is not too good at explaining things. It seems to put the utility out there for you and you have to figure out the rest. In the case of some of these utilities (such as tracert, ping, arp, netstat, nbtstat), there is very little to go on except to try them out and see what they do.

So, I have learned a little about how to use some of these, but not much about how to interpret the results. I have some questions about all of them but I would like to start with nbtstat.

I find that several functions either do not seem to work with my computer connection, or else I am having trouble interpreting the results.

Namely, they are: nbtstat -RR
nothing seems to happen
nbtstat -n
nbtstat -c
says no names in cache
nbtstat -S
nbtstat -s
says no connections
nbtstat interval
nothing happens when inputting a number

The textbook also asks us to try some tasks in order to become more familiar with this utility. It says:

1. Display the name table of a remote computer or server.

How does one do that?

2. Show contents of on your computer's NBT cache.

I type nbtstat -c. It comes back 'no names in my cache' Why?

3. Obtain a list of names resolved by a WINS server.

I type nbtstat -r . It comes back 0 resolved-very little info.

4. Display IP address of a remote machine.

How?

5. Empty and reload the remote cache name table.

I type nbtstat -R. It comes back Failed to Purge the NBT Remote Cache Name Table. Why?

I use Vista OS and have a HP laptop and I can sign in as administrator. But I find that it seems to make little difference in the results. Perhaps my whole problem is simply a matter of not knowing how to interpret the results.

If anyone can help me understand more about what's going on about nbtstat and how to use it, I would be appreciative.

Thank you.

More about : understand nbtstat utility

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I won't answer all your questions, but how many computers are on your network? If you only have a laptop and nothing else (which probably is the case since you have an empty cache table), then there isn't much that you can do with nbtstat. Therefore the first step is to make sure that you have a network of at least 2 computers (physical or virtual). You can't expect a command like "nbtstat -RR" to work if there are no other computers on your network. Even if you have a network, the cache can still be empty. I have a network and my cache is empty on my desktop as well as my server.

GhislainG said:
I won't answer all your questions, but how many computers are on your network? If you only have a laptop and nothing else (which probably is the case since you have an empty cache table), then there isn't much that you can do with nbtstat. Therefore the first step is to make sure that you have a network of at least 2 computers (physical or virtual). You can't expect a command like "nbtstat -RR" to work if there are no other computers on your network. Even if you have a network, the cache can still be empty. I have a network and my cache is empty on my desktop as well as my server.



Thanks and sorry for the delay in getting back to the Forum. I keep a busy schedule.

Yes, I only have the laptop computer so far but I hope to network together about 3 others someday.

I agree that sometimes the cache can be empty on a networked computer because I have looked at the computer at work and it will show to be empty. I know it must be on a network. I say 'sometimes' because I thought I once saw it to have something in it.

How is this possible that a networked computer has an empty cache?

I suppose I will have to wait, then, to use the nbtstat results and for them to produce results that I can evaluate and try and make sense of. That's what I wanted to do here as well, is understand the results of what is being displayed to me-both on a networked and my non-networked computer. However, if I may ask, does my laptop not connect to a local network in order to reach the Internet? And shouldn't that show nbtstat results? One might think it would show results.

Can anyone explain?

Thanks.

Quote:
Hi,

I do agree with you as this is true in the case of two computers and I do the same if I got stuck in such problem. but really thanks for all the stuff.

It is actually very much needed.


Thanks!! :) 



If you are saying what it sound like to me. that there needs to be a more easily understandable interpretation of these utility functions, I agree. I can find no explanations or descriptions of interpreting results of these functions at all on the Net. All I have found so far is people like me, trying to learn and others trying to help people learn. But no standard issue of result interpretation from anyone. Everyone seems to be grasping for straws for answers. Is there no one to explain these things for all of us to know?
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Quote:
How is this possible that a networked computer has an empty cache?
In general, an office network has a real server (a lot of home networks also do) with DNS or WINNS which can be used to resolve names instead of relying on NetBIOS broadcasts. In that case, the PC's cache might be empty. In order for nbtstat to work and see something in the cache, you need a minimum of 2 computers that use NetBIOS over TCP/IP and traffic has to occur between them, e.g., transfer a file, etc. Then one or both systems should contain entries in their NetBIOS cache.
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