A quick and easy way to determine if a computer is available, either on the web or on your network is to “ping” them. A ping sends the target computer a small network packet to which it replies saying it received it. If you do not receive a reply, it means the target computer either:

• Is turned off.
• Is not available on the network.
• Has a firewall blocking the ping request.

You can easily send a ping in Windows by doing the following:

1. Open a command prompt: Start > Run > cmd
2. Enter this into the command prompt:

ping [target computer domain name or IP address]

You will then see if the target computer replies.