Once the file is installed and registration is completed, start your program. The first time you ever run PingBats, it will do an automatic configuration to pick up its primary IPs to ping. Usually, these will not be all you need to use to diagnose connectivity problems, but they do represent a good start. The auto-configuration sequence will begin by asking you to enter up to 3 configuration-profile names--one is required.

Once you've named your configuration profile(s), you must hit the "SAVE" button (to save them). This will cause PingBats to complete its automatic configuration sequence. Once this is done, you can hit the left-pointing arrow on the main PingBats screen's lower right-hand side to begin using the program.

Next, you need to configure more pings that are to be used. To do this, click the Right-arrow on the lower-right-hand part of the main PingBats screen. This will bring up the options for PingBats. Notice that one of the tabs at the top of this new form is to "Cfg Names."

Click on this option to select it. It it's not already there, type a readily-identifiable name in the appropriate text box, i.e., "Office" or "Home." Then click the "Save" button. Note that you can have up to 3 different configuration profiles, but one is required.

Now click on the tab labelled "Configure IPs to Ping." Click on this tab to select it.

If needed, click the "Auto Configure" button. PingBats will automatically configure itself. This will take up to 1 full minute (which seems like an eternity) to complete, depending upon your computer's set up and running speed. Note that you can type over most of the auto-configured information and/or add other IPs to your configuration information. When you have the IPs labelled and entered, click the "Save xxxxxx" button where "xxxxxx" is the name you entered in the first step above.

We recommend that you use 2 IP addresses from out on the internet so that you know for sure whether or not you are able to ping beyond your ISP's DNS servers. In addition, a ping to your ISP's home page can be useful in some circumstances. You can find the IP for a URL using the

Once your ping IPs are configured, you're ready to go. You can use the left-arrow in the bottom right of the first PingBats window to close the second window. Click the recycle button to be sure your new configuration profile is used to test pinging results. You are ready to go.

There's one other feature in PingBats that might be worth mentioning. In the 2nd PingBats screen, you'll see a tab labelled "IP Config Utility." If you click this tab, there will be a delay of up to 1 minute while the IPCONFIG utility is run and its output is harvested for you. Then you will see the output of the "IPCONFIG /ALL" command--essentially everything you could want to know about your network connection presented for your use.