TIPS & TRICKS FOR COMPUTER USERS

If you use DHCP servers to automatically configure the TCP/IP settings for workstations in your organization, a DHCP failure can lead to a major disruption in service. After all, if a workstation is not able to acquire an IP address, then it will have no way of accessing any of the resources on your private network or on the Internet. In this article, I will discuss some techniques that you can use to troubleshoot DHCP server failures.

Inappropriate Address Assignment

One very common DHCP related issue is the assignment of an unexpected IP address. For example, suppose that your DHCP server was configured with an IP address scope of 192.168.0.1 to 192.1680.50. You would expect network hosts to be assigned IP addresses in this range. Now, suppose that a workstation on your network appeared to be having problems communicating with network servers. You issue an IPCONFIG /ALL command to view the workstation’s IP address configuration. Instead of the expected address range, the workstation has been assigned an address beginning with 169.254.

So what happened? If a host on your network is unexpectedly assigned an address beginning with 169.254, you can rest assured that the address was not assigned by your DHCP server. What actually has happened, is that the workstation has failed to contact a DHCP server. When this occurs, the workstation will assign itself an IP address using a Windows feature known as Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA).

Microsoft built Automatic Private IP Addressing into Windows as a way of helping those who have very small networks. For example, if you were to create a small Windows network, you would not have to manually configure IP addresses even if there were no DHCP server on the network. APIPA would automatically assign a unique class B IP address to each machine on the network. This is great for small home networks but completely inappropriate for larger networks.

If a workstation resorts to using an APIPA assigned address, it is because its requests for an IP address have gone unanswered. There are several possible causes for this problem. Assuming that the other computers on the network are able to acquire an IP address from your DHCP server, you can rule out the DHCP server as the cause of the problem.

More than likely, the issue is related to the networking hardware installed in the workstation that is having the problem. For example, the Network Interface Card might be assigned an incorrect driver. Another possible cause of the problem is that the patch cable is not plugged into the Network Interface Card, or is not connected to a switch on the other end.

Of course, just because only one computer on the network is having trouble obtaining an IP address doesn’t completely rule out the server as the cause of the problem. If other workstations are successfully obtaining IP addresses, then you can be sure that the server is working properly. However, it could be that the server has run out of IP addresses that it can assign to clients. You can easily tell if this is the problem by comparing the size of the DHCP address scope to the number of devices on your network that request IP addresses from the DHCP server.

Common DHCP Server Problems

If multiple workstations are experiencing problems with leasing IP addresses, then the problem is most likely related to the DHCP server itself. If you suspect that the DHCP server is the cause of the problem, then you might start off by doing some ping tests to verify that the DHCP server is able to communicate across the network.

If the DHCP server is able to communicate with other computers on the network, then I recommend verifying that the DHCP server has an IP address that is compatible with the scope that the server is configured to assign addresses from. For example, if the DHCP server’s scope consists of addresses from 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.50, then the server will not actually be able to assign those addresses unless the server itself has been assigned a static address in the same subnet range, such as 192.168.0.0 or 192.168.0.51.

If this still doesn’t solve the problem, then I recommend checking the basics. For example, you should make sure that the DHCP server is still authorized by the Active Directory to lease IP addresses. You should also check to verify that the scope is active, and that the necessary services are running on the DHCP server.

IP Address Conflicts

Another problem that I have seen on occasions involves IP address conflicts among dynamically configured addresses. When you create a DHCP scope, it is the DHCP server’s responsibility to make sure that addresses within the scope are only leased to one client at a time. If that’s the case, then how is it possible to have an IP address conflict for dynamically assigned addresses?

There are two situations that I’ve run into that can cause this problem. The first time that I ever ran into this problem, I was able to determine which PCs had been assigned at the duplicate addresses. When I checked the TCP/IP configuration on those machines, I found that one of the machine’s IP addresses had been manually configured. It’s kind of a long story, but that machine’s user was running an unauthorized application that required a static IP address. The user got tired of having to reconfigure the application every time they used it, so they took the address that had been dynamically assigned to them, and entered it as a static address.

The likelihood of this happening today is fairly slim. When a particular situation occurred, Windows 98 was the current operating system. Windows 98 lacks many of the security features that we take for granted today. A properly secured workstation running Windows XP or Windows Vista should be resistant to end user reconfigurations. Even so, I wanted to at least mention this issue because it gives you something to look for if you have trouble solving the problem.

A much more common cause of this problem is that multiple DHCP servers are in use, and those DHCP servers have overlapping scopes. If you only have a single DHCP server on your network, do not make the mistake of immediately dismissing this idea as a possible cause of your problem. In all likelihood, there is probably a rogue DHCP server that is conflicting with your primary DHCP server.

Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 are both designed in such a way to prevent rogue DHCP servers from causing problems. A DHCP server can only issue IP addresses after it has been authorized by the Active Directory. The problem is that this only applies to Windows-based DHCP servers. DHCP servers running other operating systems are free to lease IP addresses to clients without having to be authorized by the Active Directory.

So has a user really gone through the trouble of installing a rogue, Linux based DHCP server? Probably not. A much more likely explanation is that a wireless access point, or a router intended for cable or DSL Internet connections is causing your problem. Such devices almost always have DHCP server’s built in. These devices typically use a scope range of 192.168.0.x or 192.168.1.x. If this happens to be the same IP address scope that your primary DHCP server uses, then you may run into a situation in which both DHCP servers are issuing addresses from the same address pool.

Conclusion

In this article, I’ve explained that there are a number of potential causes for DHCP failures. In most cases, these failures are related to simple communications problems between the DHCP server and the workstations that are trying to lease addresses.

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Data Collected from Web http://www.windowsnetworking.com 10 different ways to troubleshoot DNS resolutions issues.
Published: Jun 17, 2009 Updated: Jul 13, 2009 Section: Articles & Tutorials :: Network Troubleshooting Author: David Davis Printable Version

Introduction

We all need proper DNS resolution for our network applications. When it this is not working, what do you do? Let us find out…

Let’s face it, when DNS resolution is not working, using anything on your computer that has to do with networking is painful because there is good chance it will not work. DNS really is not a “nice feature” of a network, it is a requirement. As a network admin, I have heard the alarming cry of end users moaning that the network is down, when it would be the cause of the DNS servers. In these cases I assure them that the network is up and running fine but it is the DNS servers that are down! As you can imagine, that does not go over very well with them because to an end user, it is all the same thing. DNS is “the network” (not that they know what DNS is anyway).

So how do you troubleshoot this critical network infrastructure service when you are on an end user PC (or your PC) and DNS is not resolving a DNS name? Here are the 10 tips and tricks that I recommend you try to get DNS working again…

1. Check for network connectivity

Many times, if you open your web browser, go to a URL, and that URL fails to bring up a website, you might erroneously blame DNS. In reality, the issue is much more likely to be caused by your network connectivity. This is especially true if you are using wireless networking on a laptop. With wireless security protocols, the key will be periodically renegotiated or the signal strength will fade, causing a loss of network connectivity. Of course, you can lose network connectivity on any type of network.

In other words, before blaming DNS for your problems, start troubleshooting by checking “OSI Layer 1 – Physical” first and then check your network connectivity. Here you should find a wireless connection with a valid Internet connection.

Figure 1: Good Wireless Network Connection

Notice how the Access is Local and Internet. If it just said “Local” then you do not have a valid network address (you only have a private APIPA that starts with 169.x.x.x).

This brings me to my next point. Make sure that you have a valid IP address on your network. You can check this out by going to View Status on the screen above and then to Details, you can check your IP address and verify your DNS Server IP addresses. Again, if you have a 169.x.x.x IP address you will never get to the Internet. Here is what it looks like:

Figure 2: Verifying your IP address and DNS Server IP addresses

2. Verify your DNS server IP addresses are correct and in order

Once you know that you have network connectivity and a valid IP address, let us move on to digging deeper into DNS by verifying that your DNS Server IP addresses are correct and are in the right order.

If you look at Figure 2 above, you can see the IPv4 DNS Server IP addresses. Notice that these are both on my local LAN / subnet so that I can access them even if my default gateway is down. This is how it works on most enterprise networks. However, your DNS servers do not always have to be on your subnet. In fact, with most ISPs, the DNS Server IPs would not even be on the same subnet as the default gateway.

In most home/SMB router configurations, they do not have their own DNS servers and the SMB router is proxying DNS to the real DNS Servers. In that case, your DNS Server IP address may be the same as your router.

Finally, make sure that your DNS Servers are in the right order. In my case, with the graphic in Figure 2, my local DNS Server is 10.0.1.20. It is configured to forward any names that it cannot resolve to 10.0.1.1, my local router. That router is proxying DNS to my ISP’s DNS Servers. I can look up those DNS Servers on my router, shown below in Figure 3.

Figure 3: My local DNS Servers, received from my ISP via DHCP

That brings me to two more points. First, make sure that your DNS Servers are in the right order. If you have a local DNS Server, like I do, and you are looking up a local DNS name, you want your PC client to lookup that local DNS name in the local DNS Server FIRST, before the Internet DNS Server. Thus, your local DNS server needs to be first in your DNS settings as these DNS Server IPs are in the order that they will be used.

Secondly, you should be able to ping the IP address of your ISP’s DNS Servers. So, just as my DNS servers are listed above on my router, I can verify that I can ping them even from my local PC:

Figure 4: Pinging my ISP’s DNS Server

Notice how the response time from the ping to my ISP’s DNS Server is horrible. This could cause slow DNS lookups or even failure if it takes too long for the DNS server to respond.

3. Ping the IP address of the host you are trying to get to (if it is known)

A quick way to prove that it is a DNS issue and not a network issue is to ping the IP address of the host that you are trying to get to. If the connection to the DNS name fails but the connection to the IP address succeeds, then you know that your issue has to do with DNS.

I know that if your DNS Server is not functioning then it could be hard to figure out what the IP address is that you want to connect to. Thus, to carry out this test, you would have to have a network diagram or, like many network admins do, just have the IP address of a common host memorized.

If this works, until the DNS server is available again, you could manually put an entry in your hosts file to map the IP to the hostname.

4. Find out what DNS server is being used with nslookup

You can use the nslookup command to find out a ton of information about your DNS resolution. One of the simple things to do is to use it to see what DNS server is providing you an answer and which DNS server is NOT. Here is my nslookup of www.WindowsNetworking.com

Figure 5: nslookup output

Notice, in Figure 5, how my local DNS server failed to respond but my ISP’s DNS server did provide me a “non-authoritative answer”, meaning that it does not host the domain but can provide a response.

You can also use nslookup to compare the responses from different DNS servers by manually telling it which DNS server to use.

5. Check your DNS suffix

If you are looking up a local host on a DNS server that your PC is a member of, you might be connecting to a host and not using the FQDN (fully qualified DNS name) and counting on the DNS suffix to help out. For example, if I were to connect to “server1”, the DNS server could have multiple entries for that DNS name. You should have your network adaptor configured with the connection specific DNS suffix, as shown on the first line on the graphic above, labeled Figure 1. Notice how in that graphic my DNS suffix is wiredbraincoffee.com. Whenever I enter just a DNS name like server1, the DNS suffix will be added on the end of it to make it server1.wiredbraincoffee.com.

You should verify that your DNS suffix is correct.

6. Make sure that your DNS settings are configured to pull the DNS IP from the DHCP server

It is likely that you would want your network adaptor to obtain DNS Server IP addresses from the DHCP Server. If you look at the graphic below, this adaptor has manually specified DNS Server IP addresses.

Figure 6: Verify DNS Server Settings

You may need to change to “Obtain DNS server address automatically” in order to get a new DNS server IP. To do this, open the Properties tab of your network adaptor and then click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4).

7. Release and renew your DHCP Server IP address (and DNS information)

Even if your adaptor is set to pull DNS information from DHCP, It is possible that you have an IP address conflict or old DNS server information. After choosing to obtain the IP and DNS info automatically, I like to release my IP address and renew it.

While you can do this with a Windows Diagnosis in your network configuration, I like to do it in the command prompt. If you have UAC enabled, make sure you run the Windows cmd prompt as administrator then do:

IPCONFIG /RELEASE

IPCONFIG /RENEW

Then, do an IPCONFIG /ALL to see what your new IP and DNS Server info looks like.

8. Check the DNS Server and restart services or reboot if necessary

Of course, if the DNS server is really hung, or down, or incorrectly configured, you are not going to be able to fix that at the client side. You may be able to bypass the down server somehow, but not fix it.

Thus, it is very likely that you, or the admin responsible for the DNS server, need to check the DNS Server status and configuration to resolve your DNS issue.

9. Reboot your small office / home DNS router

As I mentioned above in #2 and showed in Figure 3, on home and small office routers, the DNS server settings are typically handed out via DHCP with the DNS server set to the IP of the router and the router will proxy the DNS to the ISP’s DNS server.

Just as it is possible that your local PC has network info (including DNS server IP Addresses), it is also possible that your router has bad info. To ensure that your router has the latest DNS server information, you may want to do a DHCP release and renew on the router’s WAN interface with the ISP. Or, the easier option may be just to reboot the router to get the latest info.

10. Contact your ISP

We all know how painful it can be to contact an ISP and try to resolve a network issue. Still, if your PC is ultimately getting DNS resolution from your ISP’s DNS servers, you may need to contact the ISP, as a last resort.

Summary

DNS resolution is a critical piece of our network infrastructure and it must work properly for our network applications to function. In this article, I have given you 10 different ways to troubleshoot DNS resolutions issues, hope they are useful!

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Data Collected from Web http://www.windowsnetworking.com Taking a look at the new Group Policy preferences and how to get them up and running, today!
Published: Jun 18, 2009 Updated: Jun 18, 2009 Section: Articles & Tutorials :: Common for all OSes Author: Derek Melber Printable Version

Introduction

I always say that Microsoft does some awesome things and some not so awesome things. Windows Me… not so great. Group Policy Preferences… AMAZING! If you have not heard of Group Policy Preferences you have probably not been paying much attention to what has been going on, but you are not too late! Group Policy Preferences are Group Policy settings, but with new options and features. They include over 3000+ settings and can control areas of the operating system that no one ever thought were possible. The benefits do not just stop there either. Group Policy Preferences can be set for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 SP1 computers, as well as Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. I am sure that most of you are running at least one of these operating systems for the majority of your network, so do not wait… implement them today! Let me show you how to get them up and running.

Group Policy Basics: Two parts

In order to fully grasp the concept of what needs to be done with Group Policy Preferences, let us first look at how Group Policy is divided. The first part is deployment and on the other implementation. For starters, let me say that Group Policy technology is not agent based. So, there will be no need for any agents to be distributed. It is very important to understand that there will not be any performance degradation by just deploying the capability of your computers to use and implement Group Policy Preferences.

The first part of Group Policy is the “server side” component. This is, in essence, the “administrative” console. Since Windows XP was launched, we have been using the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) and the Group Policy Object Editor (GPOE), which is built into the GPMC. This interface allows you to see the various Group Policy settings such as; security options, software settings and finally, Administrative Templates. The GPMC can be installed on any operating system past Windows 2000. As I stated above, Windows 2000 can not administer or receive Group Policy Preference settings. The catch here is that the GPMC that supports Group Policy Preferences must be running on a Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista computer.

Note:
I did not mention ANYTHING about the Windows domain version; this can be achieved on Windows 2000 if you want.

The second part of Group Policy deals with the “client side” component. The client side extension (CSE) is a DLL that sits on the computer that is going to receive the Group Policy setting. There are many CSEs, and now, with Group Policy Preferences there are 38 of them! For comparison’s sake, Windows XP SP2 came with about 15! Since it is a DLL (not an EXE or other file that executes by itself), there is no activity until the DLL is initiated by something else. The Group Policy processing on the target machine will deliver any new Group Policy settings to the DLL, which then applies the setting to the computer.

Getting the GPMC Installed Correctly

For those of you who feel that you have GPMC already, please read this portion anyway. I have seen too many administrators get frustrated due to the fact that they do not have the correct GPMC installed. Let me be as clear as I can about the rules of engagement in order to run the GPMC that supports Group Policy Preferences:

You must be running the GPMC on a computer that is running Windows Vista SP1 or Windows Server 2008. The computer that is running the GPMC must be connected to the Windows Active Directory domain.

If you decide to use Windows Server 2008 as the administrative computer for Group Policy Preferences, you will not have to install anything to get the tool on the box. Windows Server 2008 comes with GPMC availability, but maybe not visibly so. If you do not see the Group Policy Management Console on your list of Administrative Tools, you might need to enable the Group Policy Management feature. This will make the GPMC available on the computer. You will need to do this via the Server Manager console. Once in the Server Manager console, you will select the Features option on the left list of options. You can the Server Manager in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Server Manager allows you to add uninstalled or disabled features on Windows Server 2008

If you want to use Vista as your administrative computer, then you will need to perform a few more tasks first. Firstly, you will need to install the Service Pack 1. This will actually uninstall the older version of the GPMC that comes with the Release to Manufacturer version of Vista. The end result is that you are left with no version of GPMC at all. Secondly, you must install the Remote Server Administrative Tools (RSAT) (You can easily download it from Microsoft’s website). Thirdly, you must enable the GPMC on the Vista computer by adding the Windows feature.

Note:
If you want step by step instructions on getting the GPMC on a Vista computer, read my other article on the subject on WindowSecurity.com.

When you have the new GPMC installed, you can administer Group Policy Preferences. Just edit any GPO from the GPMC and expand the Preferences node under the Computer or User Configuration node. From there, you will be able to configure any of the settings as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: The new GPMC and GPME allow you to see and configure Group Policy Preferences

Getting the CSE Installed Correctly

Now that you have the administrative part of the Group Policy Preferences installed, you are ready to get the target computers prepared. Remember, the following operating systems can be a target for a Group Policy Preference setting:

• Windows XP SP2
• Windows Server 2003 SP1
• Windows Vista
• Windows Server 2008

Note:
If you have a Windows Server 2008 computer as a target, you do not need to install the CSE, it is there by default!

There are a few options available in order to install CSE. First of all, you can perform a manual installation by downloading the KB943729 article installations for the CSEs. Here are those article references:

• Windows XP SP2
• Windows Vista
• Windows Server 2003 SP1

A second option would be to use WSUS to download and install the CSEs. You will need to go into the optional downloads, where you find the CSEs.

Once you install the CSEs, you only need to have a Group Policy Preference configured in a GPO that is targeted to the computer. The setting will now apply and you are using Group Policy Preferences!

Summary

There are two steps that you need to perform to get Group Policy Preferences installed and deployed. First of all, you need to get the GPMC installed on a Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista computer. From here you can configure any of the Group Policy Preference settings. Second, you need to install the CSE on each computer that will be receiving the Group Policy Preference setting. This is either installed manually or you can use WSUS to perform the installation. In either case, once you have the Group Policy Preference set in a GPO and the CSE installed, the Group Policy Preferences will apply! With over 3000 settings to choose from, there is no reason to move forward with Group Policy Preferences.

Data Collected from Web http://www.windowsnetworking.com

By: James Scholes


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Many people are interested in making the most of their hardware. So here are 10 simple tips on how to make your Windows computer run faster without having to purchase additional hardware.

1. Defrag Disk to Speed Up Access to Data

One of the factors that slow the performance of the computer is disk fragmentation. When files are fragmented, the computer must search the hard disk when the file is opened to piece it back together. To speed up the response time, you should monthly run Disk Defragmenter, a Windows utility that defrags and consolidates fragmented files for quicker computer response.

* Follow Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter
* Click the drives you want to defrag and click Analyze
* Click Defragment


2. Detect and Repair Disk Errors

Over time, your hard disk develops bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing difficult or even impossible. To detect and repair disk errors, Windows has a built-in tool called the Error Checking utility. It’ll search the hard disk for bad sectors and system errors and repair them for faster performance.

* Follow Start > My Computer
* In My Computer right-click the hard disk you want to scan and click Properties
* Click the Tools tab
* Click Check Now
* Select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box
* Click Start

3. Disable Indexing Services

Indexing Services is a little application that uses a lot of CPU. By indexing and updating lists of all the files on the computer, it helps you to do a search for something faster as it scans the index list. But if you know where your files are, you can disable this system service. It won’t do any harm to you machine, whether you search often or not very often.

* Go to Start
* Click Settings
* Click Control Panel
* Double-click Add/Remove Programs
* Click the Add/Remove Window Components
* Uncheck the Indexing services
* Click Next
4. Optimize Display Settings

Windows XP is a looker. But it costs you system resources that are used to display all the visual items and effects. Windows looks fine if you disable most of the settings and leave the following:

* Show shadows under menus
* Show shadows under mouse pointer
* Show translucent selection rectangle
* Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
* Use visual styles on windows and buttons

5. Speedup Folder Browsing

You may have noticed that everytime you open My Computer to browse folders that there is a little delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing speed, you can disable the “Automatically search for network folders and printers” option.

6. Disable Performance Counters

Windows XP has a performance monitor utility which monitors several areas of your PC’s performance. These utilities take up system resources so disabling is a good idea.

* Download and install the Extensible Performance Counter List (http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/tools/existing/exctrlst-o.asp)
* Then select each counter in turn in the ‘Extensible performance counters’ window and clear the ‘performance counters enabled’ checkbox at the bottom button below

7. Optimize Your Pagefile

You can optimize your pagefile. Setting a fixed size to your pagefile saves the operating system from the need to resize the pagefile.

* Right click on My Computer and select Properties
* Select the Advanced tab
* Under Performance choose the Settings button
* Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change
* Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file.

Windows XP sizes the page file to about 1.5X the amount of actual physical memory by default. While this is good for systems with smaller amounts of memory (under 512MB) it is unlikely that a typical XP desktop system will ever need 1.5 X 512MB or more of virtual memory. If you have less than 512MB of memory, leave the page file at its default size. If you have 512MB or more, change the ratio to 1:1 page file size to physical memory size.

8. Remove Fonts for Speed

Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts down to just those that you need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications may require.

* Open Control Panel
* Open Fonts folder
* Move fonts you don’t need to a temporary directory (e.g. C:\FONTBKUP?) just in case you need or want to bring a few of them back. The more fonts you uninstall, the more system resources you will gain.

9. Use a Flash Memory to Boost Performance

To improve performance, you need to install additional RAM memory. It’ll let you boot your OS much quicker and run many applications and access data quicker. There is no easiest and more technically elegant way to do it than use eBoostr (http://www.eboostr.com).

eBoostr is a little program that lets you improve a performance of any computer, powered by Windows XP in much the same way as Vista’s ReadyBoost. With eBoostr, if you have a flash drive, such as a USB flash thumb drive or an SD card, you can use it to make your computer run better. Simply plug in a flash drive through a USB socket and Windows XP will use eBoostr to utilize the flash memory to improve performance.

The product shows the best results for frequently used applications and data, which becomes a great feature for people who are using office programs, graphics applications or developer tools. It’ll surely attract a special attention of laptop owners as laptop upgrade is usually more complicated and laptop hard drives are by definition slower than those of desktops.

10. Perform a Boot Defragment

There's a simple way to speed up XP startup: make your system do a boot defragment, which will put all the boot files next to one another on your hard disk. When boot files are in close proximity to one another, your system will start faster.

On most systems, boot defragment should be enabled by default, but it might not be on yours, or it might have been changed inadvertently. To make sure that boot defragment is enabled:

* Run the Registry Editor
* Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction
* Set the Enable string value to Y if it is not already set to Y.
* Exit the Registry
* Reboot


Data Collected from Web http://information-technology.smartads.info

by: Patricia Dorch

Data Collected from Web http://information-technology.smartads.info

It is virtually impossible to succeed professionally and personally without developing a network of people. There is no career or business opportunity where you can be rewarded entirely for what you know and how well you know your work.

Networking requires a mission, goals, vision and a willingness to share valuable information with others. Networking events, meetings and conferences are places to make plans to reconnect and stay in touch. It involves building relationships, helping others and giving advice to anyone who asks. A trusting business relationship will enhance your base of contacts and build a lifetime of rewards. It’s Not Who You Know, It’s Who Knows You!

Networking is a skill that can be learned. To maximize the potential of your networking skill, you must learn the necessary strategies, and you must practice; just as you would when learning to play a sport or a musical instrument.

Introductions. There is incredible power in first impressions. Therefore, you should make it a priority to make the best first impression you can. For most introductions, the first real contact you have with another individual is a handshake. Your handshake communicates, professionalism, confidence and credibility. Learn how to give a quality, professional handshake – not too limp, but not too firm – to leave the best first impression. Just as important as the handshake, is remembering a person’s name, as well as its pronunciation and spelling. Moreover, a good rule to remember is people prefer to be called by the name they have introduced themselves.

Business Card Exchange. Challenge yourself not to give out your cards, until you have uncovered a reason for exchanging names and numbers. Lead your conversation in a direction that is beneficial for you to stay in contact beyond the event.

Building the Relationship by:

Knowing how to hold an effective conversation
Engaging your connection
Knowing how to actively listen
Building trust

Networking can Happen Anywhere. Remember that everywhere you go is an opportunity to network. Even at your current job! “Social Networking” is a sensible alternative to traditional organizational charts and everyday business transactions.

Follow-Up! Follow-up is essential in building and maintaining relationships. Don’t let your network forget about you!

Networking as a way of life will bring you personal and professional success. Make the most of your time - be determined, patient and visible.

To get the most out of your networking abilities, you’ll want to have a strong resource that you can trust on your side. Visit http://www.ebookmall.com our copy of Networking: 17 Essential Strategies in the 21st Century. Or, for guidance in-person, contact Patricia Dorch at execudress@aol.com to schedule Networking Events for National, Regional and Local Conferences, Meetings and Special Events.

Practice conversations with people in familiar and uncommon places. Asking questions is a sign of a good listener and will help you establish rapport and build relationships. Connecting with people will bring you a world of opportunities.

EXECU DRESS
Patricia Dorch M.S.
President / CEO
Author, National Speaker and Trainer
execudress@aol.com

© 2004 Patricia Dorch

About The Author

Patricia Dorch is a best-selling Author, National Speaker, Trainer and Career Coach. Her clients include both Corporate Clients and Government Agencies in Washington, DC. Contact Patricia for your day or evening event.

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