Introduction   ( on top of page )

This program was developed for those people who want to know all the time about network loading, who want to understand who is guilty of slow internet resources loading speed, who want to watch loading of remote servers and network services and their availability (if they work or not), who are tired of running standard ping application in the command line dozen times a day.

The program offers two ways of determining network loading and efficiency of remote servers work:

• Measuring time of remote server responses to Ping command of ICMP network protocol
• Measuring time of connection speed to a remote server and a port using TCP protocol
• Measured time is a main characteristic of remote servers (and services) loading and efficiency of their work.

The program places its icon into the system tray and changes color of the icon depending on the current monitoring state. The color is changed from light green (this means the best quality and the least loading of the network and the server) to red (the server is overloaded or doesn't work at all).

Installing and Initiating   ( on top of page )

This version of PingIT doesn't have an installation program and is distributed as a ZIP-archive. The archive contains the following files:

PingIT.exe - a execution file
PingIT.hlp - a help file
A Set of BMP files (skins) to enable changing an icon set to show the monitoring state

Unzip the archive into any folder and run PingIT.exe

When the program is launched for the first time you will see the following dialog window:

(If you have PingIT 2.0 the settings will be imported into this version of the program automatically)

Input a name for the first profile in Profile Name field, for example Default, and input IP address or a domain name for the remote server in Server Address field for monitoring (if you want to check the quality and performance of your internet channel then input the address of your internet provider). Then save you settings by pressing the Apply button. The new profile will be created and ready for usage.

As soon as you press the PING! button, the dialog window will be closed and the program icon will appear in the system tray:

This icon will change its color according to the network quality and speed of the connection with the given server (besides the icon can hide and appear when the quality changes - it depends on the setting of the active configuration).

To stop monitoring and activate settings dialog window click left or right mouse button on the icon in the system tray.

You can click left mouse button on the pinger tray icon to see the ping history window.

If you press and hold the left mouse button more than half a second, the history window will be on the screen only while you are holding the button and will close as soon as you release it. Also you can move this window and resize it as you want.

You can use this program free of charge within the trial period. After the end of the trial period you have to remove this program or buy it (use Purchase Online and Registration in the Help menu).

User Interface description

Using a combobox at the top of this dialog you can choose an active profile. There are 3 buttons at the bottom: Restore button (cancels changes in the active profile), Apply button (saves changes) and PING! button (starts monitoring using the profile selected in the top combo-box). If you press the PING! button the program automatically asks you to save changes if it is required (if you changed something in the settings).

Main options page   ( on top of page )

The settings dialog consists of two parts. At the top you can choose an active configuration in Active Configuration field and there is  Ping button to start monitoring using the active configuration.

Another part of the dialog contains a set of settings for the active configuration:

• Profile Name - a name of the current profile for editing;
• Server Address - an address or a domain name for the remote server for monitoring quality and network loading;
• Ping Method - determines the method of connection to the server: ICMP Ping method sends ping request to the server and notes the time of server responses. This metod mainly helps to check server availability and network loading (if the network channel is overloaded the response time will be long and if the network is free the response time will be short). Sometimes it happens so that the server continues to work normally but some program which should work on it (for example ftp-service or web-service) doesn't work at all. To check if a certain program works select Socket Connection method and fill out Port fields (on which this program works);
• Calculate Time Using 1...5 atempts - a value of this slider determines the number of attempts of connecting to the remote server. Then an average time is calculated using this data to show the monitoring state. The program permanently does other connections and new time data replaces old one and the program calculates average time using this cumulative data. Set 1 attempt if you have very stable network speed and quality and set more attempts if these parameters jump;
• Ping Frequency – here you can determine how often the program will do new connections to the remote server to get new time data.

Response delays page   ( on top of page )

• High-Speed Delay - time in milliseconds, which defines the quality of connection as good. If time of server responses is less than half of the value in High-Speed Delay field then the quality is considered as very good and remote server (and network channel) loading is minimal;
• Show In Tray - when it is ON, the program shows an icon in the system tray for the certain monitoring state. For example, if you don’t check the Show In Tray checkbox for High-Speed Delay, but check all the other checkboxes, you’ll get the following result: the program will hide the icon if quality of connection is good or very good and the remote server loadng is small and will show the icon if the quality is average or bad or if there is no connection with the given server;
• Medium-Speed Delay - time in milliseconds, which defines the connection quality as average. If time of server responses is less than this value then the connection quality (or rremote server loading) is average, if the response time is larger - the quality is bad;
• No-Speed Delay - time in milliseconds, which defines the maximum response time for the remote server. The program waits for the answer from the server during this period of time and if the the answer is not received the program supposes that there is no connection to the server or the server is not available (broken or turned off).

Off-line events page  ( on top of page )

• Run Program if off-line more than - if there is no connection for a long time you can run an external program (or play a sound). Turn this option on, choose a program to run and input time in seconds, which should pass before running the selected program if there is no connection with the server. This action will be performed only once if Repeat check box is not checked and will be repeated periodically if Repeat check box is checked (the time period for repeating is the same as off-line time value for the first running);
• Operate with Dial-Up connection if off-line more than - you can disconnect your dial-up connection or reconnect it if there is no answer from the server for a long time. If you choose Reconnect with delay option the program will wait for 5 seconds after disconnecting before trying to connect again (it is required, if you use automatic Windows connection and you want to enable Windows to connect). If you check Repeat operation check box the program will periodically repeat this operation if the connection is not restored.

Log page  ( on top of page )

• Log connection speed statistic - this option is used to save server reponse time values. The values will be added to the end of the selected file. You can use one log file for several profiles or PingIT programs which work at the same time;
• Common log - this log will contain common messages, error messages and on-line/off-line notifications. You can either use one file to store common log messages and log connection messages for all the profiles or select different files.

Interface page  ( on top of page )

• Use medium Speed Delay as a resolution for monitor window or Use custom resolution (determines the resolution in milliseconds for the history window);
• Show graphic monitor window when ping start - check this checkbox if you want the program to open the history window automatically when monitoring starts. Later you can close this window or reopen it through clicking left mouse button on the PingIT icon in the system tray (or pressing and holding the left mouse button);
• Use Image for showing State in Tray - using this option you can change the standard set of icons for showing the monitoring state in the system tray. Also it is useful if you want to run several instances of the program at one time for monitoring different servers (or services).

Showing status of monitoring   ( on top of page )

To show the monitoring state (time of remote server responses) the program changes the color of the icon in the system tray. There are 5 states:

	Very good (response time is much less then High-Speed Delay time, you can set the time values in the settings dialog)
	Good (response time is a bit less than  High-Speed Delay).
	Average quality (response time is not larger than  Medium-Speed Delay)
	Bad quality (response time is larger than Medium-Speed Delay but less than No-Speed Delay)
	No Connection (response time is larger than No-Speed Delay or there is no connection with the remote server at all)

The images in this table are the standard set of icons which are stored inside PingIT.exe and are is used if you don't select Use Image for showing State in Tray option in the setting dialog window.

Besides you can open history window to view response times (and network loading) in a graphical mode.

Click the left mouse button on the pinger tray icon to show the window. If you press and hold the left mouse button more than a half of a second then the history window will be on the screen only while you are holding the left button pressed, and will close when you release the button. You can move this window (press the left mouse button at the window area and drag it) and resize it (move the mouse cursor to the edge of the window and resize it like usual window in Windows OS). The program stores place and sizes of this window separately for each profile.

Work with different profiles  ( on top of page )

The program gives possibility to store a number of settings and to switch between them for monitoting different remote servers or network services. One set of settings (Server Address, Ping Method, ...) is a configuration.

Every profile has a unique name. Use alphanumeric symbols to assign a name to a profile. The program will save all settings and the profile name when you click Apply button or the PING! button (in the last case the program will ask about saving the changes). Information about settings of all the profiles is stored in the Windows registry and it will not be lost when you move program to a different folder or if you cnahge a version of the program. folder or if you cnahge a version the of program.

For creating a new profile use Add New Profile command in Profile menu. Fill in a new profile name in Profile Name field and edit other settings of the profile in case of necessity. Press Apply button to save the new profile.

To delete the current profile use Delete Current Profile command in Profile menu.

Launching in an automatic mode   ( on top of page )

Running the program in an an automatic mode means that the program will start monitoring using one of the existing profiles without showing of the settings dialog window. In order to do this, add a name of a needed configuration as a parameter when launching the program. If you assign an unexisting configuration name, the program will show the settings dialog after launching and monitoring will not be started.

For example, you want to run monitoring of your internet channel (loading of a network channel between your computer and your internet provider server) when Windows starts. Input a server address into configuration settings (and change other settings in case of necessity), save the configuration under any name, for example Default, and press the Ping! button. Then create a shortcut on PingIT.exe with a name of the configuration as a parameter, for example: c:\temp\PingIt.exe Default. Place the shortcut into the Autorun menu (it is a standard Windows menu for running applications when Windows starts). Next time when you turn on your computer and Windows starts, the program will be launched automatically and will start monitoring using Default configuration. The status icon will appear in the system tray to show the monitoring state of connection quality (and internet channel loading) with your internet provider.

Recommended settings for monitoring   ( on top of page )