The best way to use TCPView is to keep it open where you can see it on the desktop while opening and closing programs, navigating around on Web sites, and so forth. You can right-click any such entry to call up related Process Properties (warning: you’ll have to use the Run as administrator option to launch this program if you want to see as much as possible while making use of this facility). Ports turn red just prior to being closed, green as they pop up while being created, yellow when creation is pending, and blue for whatever entry you may choose to highlight yourself for further inspection.

This nifty nonpareil from Mark Russinovich shows all TCP and UDP ports that are open on any Windows system on which it is run, with some nice animations. That’s where the Microsoft Sysinternals tool TCPView comes into play.

It’s even the case that unexpected or unwanted behavior can manifest in the form of strange or unknown process names, odd communications behaviors, and unexpected or insecure open ports on your machine. It’s as true today, however, as it was in 2004 that keeping track of TCP and UDP ports in use on your PC can tell you what’s up with your machine, network-wise. Among other things this means revising statistics, information, and tools supplied during Windows XP’s heyday, and updating them to reflect an increasingly Windows Vista world in 2008.

Right now, I’m hot on the track of revising a course on spam and spyware that somebody else developed back in 2004. This includes some companies whose high tech products and business activities overlap with my interests and expertise. One of the many things I do for a living is to develop and revise courseware for a local Austin company that provides “Learning Centers” for all kinds of Fortune 500 companies.

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