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How to do a trace route

Okay, support has asked for traces. What the heck are they?

Well, most FAQ’s I have read go into too much technical detail for most people to understand. Basically a trace is like a map from your modem right through to the web site, news group, etc. It defines each step that your connection takes to get from you to the address. Think of it like giving someone directions to get their house to yours, giving them the best route to get there. That is what a trace does. Finds the best route to a web address or news/mail address. And we all know things can go wrong sometimes when trying to reach a certain address. What causes this? Well, again most FAQ’s are very technical; so let me explain it like this. Remember the older days when phones where more or less new technology? And when you wanted to phone someone you had to go through an operator, who then perhaps passed you on to another operator and so on until you reached the person you wanted? Well, imagine what would happen if one of those operators wasn’t available. You would get passed to that exchange and then… Nothing. You wouldn’t be able to get any further than that with your call. This is basically what happens when you can’t reach an address. As for why this happens, most non-technical people don’t want or need this information for posting and support will usually fill you in on what is causing it once they have looked into the problem.

How do I do a trace?

Many people seem to have problems with doing traces, not even knowing where to start. And it can get frustrating when all support will say is “please post traces to the addresses you are having problems with”, but don’t tell you how to carry it out. Well, this is a basic (and I hope, easy to understand) break down of how to carry out a trace. There are two ways to do a trace, both ways heaving their own sticking points. The first method is simple is you know how to look for a file, as it writes the trace up in the file you specify. The second way is easy if you know how to use a DOS box, but if the traces are long they can disappear off the top of the box and you lose that part of the information. I, however, prefer using method two, as you don’t need to go looking for any text files as it is all done on the one screen. But, I will let you decide the best method for using yourself.

Method One: Text File

1. Select the ’start’ menu button and then select ‘run’
2. In the run box that comes up on your screen, type:
   tracert address > c:\name.txt
   where the address is the web site, news, mail you are having problems with and name is the name you want to call the file, probably something like ‘trace’. So say, for example, you were having problems with the Virgin Media web site, the line you would type would look like:
   tracert www.virginmedia.co.uk > c:\trace.txt
   This will carry out the trace for you and save it on your main c: drive in a file called trace.txt
3. Once the trace is complete, open windows explorer and locate the file the trace was saved in.
4. Use your mouse to outline the whole trace, and then right click your mouse. A small menu should appear and one of the commands could be copy, select this.
5. Go to your post that you are wanting to place this information into and right click the mouse button again where you want to place it. Select ‘paste’ from the menu that appears, and you should now see your trace included in your post.

Method Two: DOS Box

1. Firstly, open up your ms-dos box - usually by going into start -> programs -> ms-dos (alternatively on Windows XP start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt).
2. Once in the dos environment, type “tracert” at the dos prompt. Tracert basically stands for trace route, which is what you are about to do.
3. Now you have tracert in the dos box. DON’T hit enter. After this type the address of the web you are having problems with, e.g. www.metacrawler.com. The line should now read:
   tracert www.metacrawler.com
   Now hit enter.

4. The screen should start to scroll up with information looking something like this:

   Tracing route to v38.go2net.com [206.253.217.38
   over a maximum of 30 hops:
   1 153 ms 139 ms 149 ms usr1389-edi.cableinet.co.uk [213.48.66.218]
   2 145 ms 149 ms 149 ms 213.48.58.2
   3 165 ms 149 ms 149 ms 194.117.133.50
   4 175 ms 150 ms 148 ms ATM5-ED-HSD-GSR-LINX.cableinet.net [194.117.140.162]

   This is the information support look for. Once the dos prompt has come back, the trace is finished. To copy it over into a post:

   1. Use your mouse to outline the whole trace (include the tracing route to… information). This whole area should no appear a different colour (usually white).
   2. At the top of the dos box there is a row of icons. You should see one that looks like two pieces of paper with their corners folded over and overlapping. Scroll your mouse over this and it should come up saying copy. Click this.
   3. Go to your post and right click where you want to put the information. Select paste from the menu that appears when you right click.
   4. You have now completed you first trace to support! Congratulations!

Extra Information

The trace can be done for several of the sites you are having problems with and copied and pasted accordingly. Once this is all done, send your post. Again, make sure you post to the correct ng, otherwise it may be ignored.

Suggested site for tracert’s include the BBC - http://www.bbc.co.uk and Virgin Media - http://www.virginmedia.com However we would also suggest trying Google - http://www.google.co.uk

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