reading Nbtstat display results from a Command Prompt

[Clyde2]

  I recently posted a topic about understanding Netstat.

  I have another similar command line function I wish to know about and that is Nbtstat.

  I cannot seem to get it to do anything much on my computer. Then, if I can get it to work, how do I interpret the results?   I am using the Vista Home Basic OS on an HP laptop.

  The only function that works is nbtstat -r.
  nbtstat -RR           says "failed  Release and Refresh of Registered Names" and " access denied"
  nbtstat -n
  nbtstat -c              both say no names in my cache
  nbtstat -S
  nbtstat -s              both say no connections
  nbtstat  interval     does not seem to work

  In the Netstat topic I posted, I was told that the interval is to enter a time-not the word "interval".
I tried this but did not seem to get any result.  Maybe I was doing it wrong.

  While looking at the Internet for information on this nbtstat topic, I see some of the things it is supposed to do and I don't understand why I cannot duplicate these things on my computer.  What am I doing wrong?

  Once again, any help in understanding is appreciated.  Thanks.

[wbrost]

are you running this as administrator? In vista if you do not right click and select run as administrator specific functions do not or can not run correctly.

[Clyde2]

  I thought about that and tried signing on as the administrator.  Unfortunately, I was getting the same results both ways. 

  Maybe I was doing something wrong in my attempt at being the administrator and as a user. 

  Thanks.

[wbrost]

being signed in dose not mean that you are running the program as an administrator. You still need to do the following:

click run
type cmd
right click the cmd icon in the programs window
select run as administrator


also you can use ctrl+shift+enter to access the application as the administrator.

[Clyde2]

  Thanks again for the reply.  I'm not sure if I understand you.  You are giving me these commands in order to pull up the Command Prompt black box, right?

  Otherwise, I may be misunderstanding you.

  I am using the black box  to enter my nbtstat commands.  If you are talking about something else, please restate your intentions for me.  Sometimes I have a hard time grasping the obvious.  Sorry for that.

[wbrost]

yes these are to get you to the command prompt or "black box".

you should be seeing the following:
see attachment


you get this by right clicking on the program. Let me know if you are still not sure what I am talking about.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Clyde2]

  I'm sorry but you have lost me.  Obviously, I am not with you somewhere along the line.

  If I (mis)understand correctly, we are in the black box, correct?  And yet, no matter where I click or right click, I cannot get a box with the Run as Administrator option anywhere.

  Yet from your picture, you do not seem to be in the black box.  Are you in the Run box?  Well, I tried that too and could not reproduce the Run as Administrator option.

  You say something about the Programs box.  Yet I am not sure where or how or which program you mean.

  My version of Vista is the Vista Home Basic that came with the computer.  Could that have anything to do with it?

  I guess you'll have to take me through this step by step.

  I hope you will forgive me for being so dense on this.  I told you I sometimes get bogged down on the simple things.    Thanks.

[Clyde2]

  A small followup:  I just discovered that I am able to right click on some (but not all) desktop icons and pull up the box that has Run as Administrator.  But my Command Prompt box is not on my desktop.  Do you think it might access that Run as Administrator box if I try and put my Command Prompt box on my desktop?

  Surely, there must be an easier solution that I am overlooking.  Thanks.

  FYI for what it's worth.

[wbrost]

yes and no problem.......

 when you click on start you see the box that comes up. at the very bottom there is a box you can type in that says "Start Search". click in the box and type cmd. you should then see something close to what I had in the image from the previous post.

[Clyde2]

  I have just time to reply quickly before going to work.  I work 2nd shift.

  Yes I see the Start Search and I typed in cmd.  Then what do I do?  I decided to right click it but did not get the Run as Administrator box.  Am I jumping ahead too quickly?

[wbrost]

just a bit you need to look at the top and you should see cmd.exe that is what you need to right click on. Please see attached:

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Clyde2]

  OK, I have been successful in following your instructions.  I got to the Command Prompt after hitting the Run as Administrator selection by following your photo and instructions and the black box came up saying    C:\Windows\system32>_

  I take it that I am now 'on' as the administrator.  I typed in my nbtstat letters and this time I see a few different things as best as I remember. 

  For nbtstat -R and -RR both seem to work saying that there was a: successful purge and preload of the NBT Remote Cache Name Table.   And that there was a: NetBIOS names registered by this computer have been refreshed.  I don't recall these working before.

  nbtstat -c and -n still say No Names in my cache.  But the  -n function gives me a NetBIOS local name table consisting of 5 names-the name of my computer and the word 'workgroup'.  That seems normal.  But why does it say no names in my cache?

  nbtstat -S and -s both say No Connections.  What is going on about that?  How do I get connections?

  nbtstat interval......well, I type in a time, say, nbtstat 3, and nothing happens.  Maybe I am typing it in incorrectly.

  The same with nbtstat -a and -A.  I am not sure how to use these functions.  I take it that you are supposed to put in a 'friendly name' for nbtstat -a and an IP address for nbtstat -A.  OK. 

  But by doing so, I am lacking an understanding of why I would want to do that.  What information would I be looking for by doing that?

  Thus I am now back to my original questions.  How do you use nbtstat and what is it used for and how do you interpret its results?

  There are also a couple of questions from my textbook that I wanted to do.  They are:
  1.  Display the name table of a remote computer or server.
  2.  Show the contents of your computer's NBT cache.
  3.  Obtain a list of names resolved by a WINS server
  4.  Display the IP address of a remote machine.
  5.  Empty and reload the remote cache name table.

  I think I just did #5.  But the other present problems in doing since I am getting no names in my cache to work with.  How do I get names into my cache?

  I hope you don't think I am trying to get you to do my homework here.  Actually, I just finished the course in Networking but we did not cover the entire textbook and so I am taking it upon myself to try and learn the rest on my own.  It was an introductory course.

  Thanks again and I hope we are making some progress.