Finding your Computer's IP and MAC Addresses
IP and MAC Addresses
To access networks and the internet, computers have special ID tags which identify them from every other computer on a network or the internet. The two most common ID tags are the IP or Internet Protocol Address and the MAC or Physical Address.
Your computer's IP Address is similar to your phone number. It is a unique number that allows information to be sent and received by your computer over the internet. When you seek out a piece of information from the internet, your computer sends out its IP address to let other computers know where to send back the information.
Your computer's MAC Address is similar to your car number plate. Like a number plate is used to identify each car on the road, a MAC Address is used to identify your computer from all the other computers connected to your local network. A MAC Address can also be known as your computer's 'Physical Address'.
Host Name
All CSU Computers are given Host Names, so they can be identified by DIT support staff. The standard CSU Naming convention for computers is to use the Login ID of the person that has been assigned that computer. For example, Jo Bloggs login ID is jbloggs. As the computer is a Desktop Computer, it has been assigned the Host Name of jbloggs-DT. If the computer is a Laptop it would be jbloggs-LT.
How to find out your computer's IP and MAC Addresses (Using Windows)
To find out your computer's IP and MAC Addresses, using Windows,
follow the steps below -
(This example features Windows XP, but is essentially the same for
Windows 9x, ME, NT and 2000)
Step 1
Click on your Start Menu, normally located in the bottom left hand
corner of your screen.
On the Menu, the should be a Run command. Click on it.
A small box will pop up (See below). Click on the box and type cmd,
then press the OK.
Step 2
A Command Prompt window, (See below) should now appear on your screen.
Type in the command ipconfig /all and press enter.
Step 3
After pressing enter, the Command Prompt window should produce an output similar to the one below. Your IP Address and MAC Address should be listed.
