How to Ping a Website in Windows

There are many reasons to ping a website in Windows. Seeing if a website is up, finding the website IP address and determining if there is a problem with your server are just a few. Learn to ping a website in Windows to resolve technical issues on your computer.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Open the Command Window, which allows you to use command line utilities. Click "Start" and select "Run." Type "cmd" in the box that pops up. Click "OK" or hit "Enter."

2. Type "ping" in the Command Window.

3. Hit the space bar once.

4. Type the website address that you want to ping, after the space. For example, if you want to ping eBay, type "www.ebay.com" after the space.

5. Hit "Enter." If the website is up and actively responding, you receive four to five replies back from the server that you pinged.

6. Analyze the information. The lower the round trip number in milliseconds, the better. The higher the round trip number in milliseconds, the higher the latency, which may indicate a network problem between your computer and the server you pinged.

Tips & Warnings

• For continual pinging, hit the space bar after you type the website address. Type "-t" after the space.
• Some hackers try to use a ping to attack another server. With the so "Ping of Death," hackers can crash a server by sending a packet that is greater than 65,536 bytes. Protect your server by disabling "ICMP" (Internet Control Message Protocol). Consult the Microsoft Windows website to learn how.

Resources

• Microsoft Windows