Traceroute is an application that traces the path data takes from one computer to another. Basically a traceroute is a map that shows what stops or locations that data must pass through in order to go from one computer to another.
To be an effective troubleshooting tool, the traceroute needs to be run from a computer experiencing the problem while the problem is occurring.
To Run a Traceroute in Windows
The command application (cmd.exe) is used to run a traceroute on Windows. Launching it is slightly different depending on your version of Windows:
- In Windows 7:
- click on the Start menu
- type “cmd” and press Enter to get a command prompt.
- In Windows 8:
- move your mouse to the bottom-left corner of the screen to bring up the Start icon.
- Right-click on Start and select Run.
- Then type “command” and press Enter to launch the application.
- Alternatively, you can type “command” into the Search field in the Charms menu after moving your mouse to the lower right corner of your desktop.
- In Windows 10, type “command” into the search menu and press Enter for a command prompt.
To run the traceroute, type:
tracert domainname.com
(tracert, not traceroute)
into the command prompt, where “domainname.com” is the name of the server to which you are having difficulty connecting.
The traceroute may take only a few seconds or a few minutes. Typically, the closer you are to the server, geographically, the more quickly the traceroute will complete.