NBTSTAT/NETSTAT/ARP

You can run locally or make queries of a remote machine depending on the options/switches you choose. You can get a description of each by running at a command line the command and "?" such as  netstat ? Make note though that the switches are case sensitive in some cases.
eg.  nbtstat  -A  192.168.1.101
which would list the remote machines NetBIOS name table.

normally i run these commands ni the command line while logged in with a remote viewing software like UltraVNC.

when I run:

NBTSTAT  -a computername

it gives me some info such as  
UNIQUE  REGISTRED
GROUP REGISTRED

what does that mean?

Sorry that's still confusing. when I run it I get :


COMPUTER1                        <00>  UNIQUE    REGISTRED
DOMAINNETBIOSNAME          <00> GROUP     RESGISTRED
COMPUTER1                         <20> UNIQUE   RESGISTRED
INet~Services                       <1C> GROUP   RESGISTRED
IS~COMPUTER1....................<00> UNIQUE  RESGISTRED
DOMAINNETBIOSNAME           <1E> GROUP  REGISTRED
MAC ADDRESS = XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX


what all that means?

thanks

All refer to the computer referenced in the command;

COMPUTER1                        <00>  UNIQUE   NetBIOS name of the computer
DOMAINNETBIOSNAME          <00> GROUP    NetBIOS domain name  (mydomain instead of DNS mydomain.abc)
COMPUTER1                         <20> UNIQUE   Computer offers file sharing services
INet~Services                       <1C> GROUP    NetBIOS computer name registered in DNS
IS~COMPUTER1....................<00> UNIQUE   another NetBIOS name registered for the same computer
DOMAINNETBIOSNAME           <1E> GROUP   NetBIOS computer name used by the master browser
MAC ADDRESS = XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX          MAC address of the computer

I know it is confusing and it appears there is a lot of duplication. Most often it is just used to confirm NetBIOS computer and domain names, MAC address, and whether it is the master browser or not. This system is not the master browser. It would show; "   ..__MSBROWSE__.<01>  GROUP       Registered " if it was

>COMPUTER1                        <00>  UNIQUE    REGISTRED

This tells your computers NETBIOS name and is unique.

>DOMAINNETBIOSNAME          <00> GROUP     RESGISTRED

This tells your domains NETBIOS name and is a group.

>COMPUTER1                         <20> UNIQUE   RESGISTRED

This is the name which other computers uses to access shared files on your computer.

What you need to understand that unlike TCP/IP which uses ports to provide services. NETBIOS uses pipes.

Thanks jskfan,
--Rob