Configuring IPv4 in Windows 7

IPv4 is a connectionless protocol for use on packet-switched networks. It operates on a best effort delivery model, so it doesn't guarantee that the packet will get delivered, it also does not guarantee duplicated delivery of packets. These things, as well as data integrity, are dealt with an upper layer transport protocol such as TCP. For more information about IPv4, look here.

Today, I'm going to do a quick guide on how to manually configure IPv4 on your PC.
There are two ways you can access the Network Settings on your PC.
You can right click on the computer on the task bar, and select "Open Network and Sharing Centre"

You can also go through the start menu and control panel.

No matter which way you go about it, you should end up here:

Once you're here you need to click on "Change Adapter Settings" in the sidebar.

You then need to right click on the network adapter that you are configuring and select properties.



You then need to select the IPv4 option and click properties.

If you are using DHCP you just need to tick the boxes for getting IP address and DNS server address automatically.

You can also use a static IP address. To do this you need to enter the information manually.
You need to ensure that you use the correct subnet mask for your IP class, for example, if you have a class A IP address your subnet mask will be 255.0.0.0, if you are using class B it will be 255.255.0.0
and if you are using class C it will be 255.255.255.0. You should also make sure you know the IP addresses of your DNS servers (most companys have two) as you will need to enter this.

When you click ok and come out of the properties menu of the network adapter you are configuring, the settings will update. You can then check the IP address has updated by opening a command prompt window and typing 'ipconfig' .

You've now configured a static IPv4 address!