How to Find Your Internet Protocol (IP) Address

There comes a day in everyone’s life when they are asked for their IP address whether at work or  talking with technical support troubleshooting something wrong with a computer. One of the first questions asked is, what IP address is being used? Typically the help desk has to walk people through step by step on how to get the IP address.  The IP address is something a user can do pretty quick and simple depending on what operating system they are using.

How to Find Your Internet Protocol (IP) Address using XP

In some desktop setups for Windows XP the DOS prompt or command prompt will appear on the task bar.  If it does not appear on the task bar then left click the Windows “Start” button also located on the task bar.  When the window expands there will be an icon labeled “Run”.  Left click “Run” and type in “cmd” short for command.  This will bring up the command prompt and then type “ipconfig”.  This will give you a list of information and in more particular the IP address. Look for the IP address usually located near the top of the information provided. Sometimes it may not simply say “IP Address” if you have a router it may say something like “IPv4 Address”.

How to Find Your Internet Protocol (IP) Address using Vista and Windows 7

Finding the IP using Vista and Windows 7 is almost the same as in XP.  The difference is instead of selecting the “Run” option under the Windows “Start” button found on the task bar type in “cmd” in the “search programs and files” box for Windows 7 and “start search” box for Vista.  Then select “cmd” after the search.  The command prompt will appear and then type “ipconfig”.

Do you have any ideas, products, or recommendations for finding and using ipconfig? We would love to hear from you. Also, if you are experiencing problems with ipconfig please feel free to ask questions and we will try to provide a solution for you.