How to discover all live addresses on a network

I guess this isn't an "expert" question:

How can I get a list of what addresses on my network have a responding
device attached?

I've created a crude script which loops through the desired numbers and
pings each one with a single packet and a short timeout, but I bet
there's a much simpler and neater way to do this? That will show what a
novice I am?

PH, London

there are some network scanning tools that essentially do the same thing.
in a general case that is the only way to do it, though even that is not
foolproof is there are devices that have blocked icmp. a port scanner may
be better, though good firewalls can block those also.

"Philip Herlihy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:f4eb70$kbc$2$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I guess this isn't an "expert" question:
>
> How can I get a list of what addresses on my network have a responding
> device attached?
>
> I've created a crude script which loops through the desired numbers and
> pings each one with a single packet and a short timeout, but I bet there's
> a much simpler and neater way to do this? That will show what a novice I
> am?
>
> PH, London

Thanks - can you recommend an inexpensive one?

Phil

Dave wrote:
> there are some network scanning tools that essentially do the same thing.
> in a general case that is the only way to do it, though even that is not
> foolproof is there are devices that have blocked icmp. a port scanner may
> be better, though good firewalls can block those also.
>
> "Philip Herlihy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:f4eb70$kbc$2$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> I guess this isn't an "expert" question:
>>
>> How can I get a list of what addresses on my network have a responding
>> device attached?
>>
>> I've created a crude script which loops through the desired numbers and
>> pings each one with a single packet and a short timeout, but I bet there's
>> a much simpler and neater way to do this? That will show what a novice I
>> am?
>>
>> PH, London
>
>

In news:f4ettv$nuf$1$(E-Mail Removed),
Philip Herlihy <(E-Mail Removed)> typed:
> Thanks - can you recommend an inexpensive one?
>
> Phil
>

Try SuperScan. It's free:

http://www.foundstone.com/us/resources-free-tools.asp

--
Regards,
Ace

This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and
confers no rights.

Ace Fekay, MCSE 2003 & 2000, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSE+I, MCT, MVP
Microsoft MVP - Directory Services
Microsoft Certified Trainer

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Ace Fekay [MVP] wrote:
> In news:f4ettv$nuf$1$(E-Mail Removed),
> Philip Herlihy <(E-Mail Removed)> typed:
>> Thanks - can you recommend an inexpensive one?
>>
>> Phil
>>
>
> Try SuperScan. It's free:
>
> http://www.foundstone.com/us/resources-free-tools.asp
>


Thanks, Ace, that's ...um... Ace!

My network pinger script was working ok, but it was very slow, as a new
instance of the ping executable was created and destroyed for every IP
address in the range. I thought I'd read somewhere that I could ping an
entire subnet in one go as a "multicast" (x.x.x.255?) but that didn't
work. SuperScan will teach me a trick or two, I think - thanks!

Phil

In news:f4gjvd$knu$1$(E-Mail Removed),
Philip Herlihy <(E-Mail Removed)> typed:
>
> Thanks, Ace, that's ...um... Ace!
>
> My network pinger script was working ok, but it was very slow, as a
> new instance of the ping executable was created and destroyed for
> every IP address in the range. I thought I'd read somewhere that I
> could ping an entire subnet in one go as a "multicast" (x.x.x.255?)
> but that didn't work. SuperScan will teach me a trick or two, I
> think - thanks!
> Phil

No problem. If you want to get fancy and advanced about it and don't mind
spending some money, check out the top $$ stuff like eEye's Retina or

http://www.eeye.com/Retina/
http://www.solarwinds.com/

Ace

nmap
http://insecure.org/nmap/

"Philip Herlihy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:f4ettv$nuf$1$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thanks - can you recommend an inexpensive one?
>
> Phil
>
> Dave wrote:
>> there are some network scanning tools that essentially do the same thing. in
>> a general case that is the only way to do it, though even that is not
>> foolproof is there are devices that have blocked icmp. a port scanner may be
>> better, though good firewalls can block those also.
>>
>> "Philip Herlihy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:f4eb70$kbc$2$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> I guess this isn't an "expert" question:
>>>
>>> How can I get a list of what addresses on my network have a responding
>>> device attached?
>>>
>>> I've created a crude script which loops through the desired numbers and
>>> pings each one with a single packet and a short timeout, but I bet there's a
>>> much simpler and neater way to do this? That will show what a novice I am?
>>>
>>> PH, London
>>

Noted - thanks!

Phil

Mike Lowery wrote:
> nmap
> http://insecure.org/nmap/
>
> "Philip Herlihy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:f4ettv$nuf$1$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Thanks - can you recommend an inexpensive one?
>>
>> Phil
>>
>> Dave wrote:
>>> there are some network scanning tools that essentially do the same thing. in
>>> a general case that is the only way to do it, though even that is not
>>> foolproof is there are devices that have blocked icmp. a port scanner may be
>>> better, though good firewalls can block those also.
>>>
>>> "Philip Herlihy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>> news:f4eb70$kbc$2$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>> I guess this isn't an "expert" question:
>>>>
>>>> How can I get a list of what addresses on my network have a responding
>>>> device attached?
>>>>
>>>> I've created a crude script which loops through the desired numbers and
>>>> pings each one with a single packet and a short timeout, but I bet there's a
>>>> much simpler and neater way to do this? That will show what a novice I am?
>>>>
>>>> PH, London
>