Change IP How To

How to change the IP address of a network adapter in Windows XP or Windows 2000

An IP address may be assigned automatically if your network has a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server, or you can specify an IP address.

How to change the IP address that is assigned to a network adapter

1. Log on to the computer by using the Administrator account.
2. Click Start, click Settings, and then click Control Panel.
3. In Control Panel, double-click Network and Dial-up Connections. The Network and Dial-up Connections dialog box opens.
4. Right-click the local area connection that you want, and then click Properties. The Local Area Network Connection Properties dialog box opens.
5. In the Components checked are used by this connection box, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties. The Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box appears.
6. Continue with the steps in one of the following two sections.

How to automatically obtain an IP address

Use these steps to configure the computer to obtain an IP address from a DHCP server. Note that you must have a DHCP server.
1. Click Obtain an IP address automatically.
2. Click Obtain DNS server address automatically if you do not want to specify the IP address of the Domain Name System (DNS) server.
3. Click OK. In the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box, click OK.
4. Click Start, and then click Run.
5. In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.
6. At the command prompt, type ipconfig /release, and then press ENTER.
7. Type ipconfig /renew, and then press ENTER. The network adapter is assigned an IP address by the DHCP server, and a message similar to the following message appears:

Windows 2000 IP Configuration
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :dns.iphowto.com
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . :192.168.0.201
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . :255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :192.168.0.1

8. Type exit and then press ENTER to quit the command prompt.

How to specify an IP address

Follow these steps to assign an IP address to the network adapter.
1. Click Use the following IP address if you want to specify the IP address for the network adapter.
2. In the IP address box, type the IP address that you want to be assigned to this network adapter. This IP address must be a unique address in the range of addresses that are available for your network. Contact the network administrator to obtain a list of valid IP addresses for your network.
3. In the Subnet mask box, type the subnet mask for your network.
4. In the Default gateway box, type the IP address of the computer or device on your network that connects your network to another network, or to the Internet.
5. In the Preferred DNS server box, type the IP address of the computer that resolves host names to IP addresses.
6. In the Alternate DNS server box, type the IP address of the DNS computer that you want to use if the preferred DNS server becomes unavailable.
7. Click OK. In the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box, click OK.
8. Close the Network and Dial-up Connections window.

How to change the IP address of a network adapter in Linux/Unix

ifconfig eth0 address x.y.z.w
Replace eth0 by your network device (which most likely will be eth0 anyway) and x.y.z.w with the required IP address.
If you want permanent changes (across reboot), login as root and run netconfig.