list of all attached computers on a network

[Viper]

This page describes a method of listing all computers on a network using the Net View command.(Windows) Unfortunately this lists all computers that are in a cache someplace. If I rerun the vi after disconnecthing one of the PCs from the network that PC will still be listed. I have tried a couple of ways to update the list to no avail. Methods I have tried "arp -d * ", "dbtstat -R and -RR", "ipconfig /flushdns". I don't want to ping a bunch of PCs to see if they are really there.

TIA

Norm

[rolfk]

The only reliable way to detect if a PC is really there and not just some cached entry somewhere is to actually try to connect to it in some way. Ping is the least invasive way for that but may give false negatives, since ping is nowadays disabled by some devices, for security reasons.