Admin Tip #97: Troubleshoot IP with Pathping

Hits: Failed to execute CGI : Win32 Error Code = 3


Windows 2000 comes with a useful utility, pathping, that combines the functionality of ping and tracert. Pathping can find routers experiencing problems, note the lost packet column. An example tracing follows:

pathping www.microsoft.com



Tracing route to www.microsoft.akadns.net [207.46.230.218]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
  0  wayne-72hob1q3w [192.128.1.101] 
  1  adsl-64-219-169-254.dsl.rcsntx.swbell.net [64.219.169.254] 
  2  core3-vlan40.rcsntx.swbell.net [151.164.1.195] 
  3  bb1-g1-0.rcsntx.swbell.net [151.164.1.174] 
  4  bb1-p4-0.dllstx.sbcglobal.net [151.164.240.2] 
  5  bb1-p5-1.hstntx.sbcglobal.net [151.164.240.6] 
  6  sl-gw20-fw-6-3.sprintlink.net [144.232.194.73] 
  7  sl-bb20-fw-4-1.sprintlink.net [144.232.11.125] 
  8  sl-bb20-kc-13-0.sprintlink.net [144.232.9.253] 
  9  sl-bb11-sea-8-0.sprintlink.net [144.232.18.98] 
 10  sl-microsoft-10-0.sprintlink.net [] 
 11  iuscixtukc1201-ge-6-0.msft.net [207.46.129.175] 
 12  iustixcpdc1201-p-3-0.msft.net [207.46.190.26] 
 13  
Computing statistics for 325 seconds...
            Source to Here   This Node/Link
Hop  RTT    Lost/Sent = Pct  Lost/Sent = Pct  Address
  0                                           wayne-71hob1q3w [192.168.1.101] 
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  1   29ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  adsl-64-219-169-254.dsl.rcsntx.swbell.net [64.219.169.254] 
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  2   20ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  core3-vlan40.rcsntx.swbell.net [151.164.1.195] 
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  3   20ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  bb1-g1-0.rcsntx.swbell.net [151.164.1.174] 
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  4   21ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  bb1-p4-0.dllstx.sbcglobal.net [151.164.240.2] 
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  5   26ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  bb1-p5-1.hstntx.sbcglobal.net [151.164.240.6] 
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  6   32ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  sl-gw20-fw-6-3.sprintlink.net [144.232.194.73] 
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  7   31ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  sl-bb20-fw-4-1.sprintlink.net [144.232.11.125] 
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  8   41ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  sl-bb20-kc-13-0.sprintlink.net [144.232.9.253] 
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  9   90ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  sl-bb11-sea-8-0.sprintlink.net [144.232.18.98] 
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
 10   95ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  sl-microsoft-10-0.sprintlink.net [] 
                               42/ 100 = 42%   |
 11   95ms    43/ 100 = 43%     1/ 100 =  1%  iuscixtukc1201-ge-6-0.msft.net [207.46.129.175] 
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
 12   96ms    42/ 100 = 42%     0/ 100 =  0%  iustixcpdc1201-p-3-0.msft.net [207.46.190.26] 
                               58/ 100 = 58%   |
 13  ---     100/ 100 =100%     0/ 100 =  0%  wayne-71hob1q3w [0.0.0.0] 

Trace complete.

The syntax follows:

pathping /?


usage: pathping [-n] [-h maximum_hops] [-g host-list] [-p period]
                [-q num_queries] [-w timeout] [-T] [-R] [-P] target_name

Options:
    -n                 Do not resolve addresses to hostnames.
    -h maximum_hops    Maximum number of hops to search for target.
    -g host-list       Loose source route along host-list.
    -p period          Wait period milliseconds between pings.
    -q num_queries     Number of queries per hop.
    -w timeout         Wait timeout milliseconds for each reply.
    -T                 Test connectivity to each hop with Layer-2 priority tags.
    -R                 Test if each hop is RSVP aware.
    -P                 Test for RSVP PATH connectivity



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