How to Ping Your Own Computer

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Last Updated: November 7, 2017

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If you are having an issue with a computer or network, you can "ping" it to determine if a problem exists. A "ping" is a signal sent to a network or computer to elicit a response in order to determine whether or not it is connected. You can tell if an entire network is down if no computers on the system respond to the ping, or identify an isolated incident due to a failed ping of one computer. It is easy to use the ping function if you follow a few simple steps.

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   1
   Determine your IP address. You will need this number to ping your computer. If you do not know the IP address of your computer, find it out via the Internet website: What's My IP Address?
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   2
   Open up Command Prompt (type 'CMD' without quotation marks in Run)
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   3
   Type the word "ping" followed by a space and then your IP address at the DOS prompt (e.g. ping 111.22.33.4). Press the "Enter" key once.
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   4
   View the results of the ping. If a result of "Request timed out" appears, then there is a problem with either the computer or the network. A successful ping will result in a response of "Reply from" followed by the IP address.
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• Question

  How do I find the IP of a server I don't know the name of?

  

  Adrian

  Top Answerer

  You need to find the IP. You can't ping a server or computer without knowing its IP. However, if it is a server with a domain name, you can type in its domain instead (i.e. 'ping wikihow.com').

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  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

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• Question

  Does a pinged phone show locations where it has been over a period of time?

  

  JosephWorld

  Community Answer

  A ping does not contain your location or anything traceable to it. Your IP address can tell where you live (roughly).

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

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Method 2 steps

1. Open your command line, shell, or what it is called on your computer.
2. Write the ping command for your computer. Usually, it is just ping.
3. After the ping command, you want to write in 127.0.0.1. On almost all computers this is the IP address which will be treated as your IP address, meaning that writing it will make sure you ping your own computer.
4. Activate the command. On basically every computer you do this by pressing enter. Then it will start pinging your computer.