cpslimo

They have: 5,633 posts

Joined: Jan 1970

Hello, I Was Wondering If There Was Anyone Who Knows How To Find Out If Someone Is Currently Online, Maybe By Their Ip Address Or Another Way. I Have Been Told That Anyone Using Any Of The Messenger Services Like, Irq,yahoo,aim, Etc. You Can Find Out If They Are Online, Even If They Are Invisable. Can Anyone Help Me With Whether Or Not This Is True. Thanks, Best Regards, Roger C.

Abhishek Reddy's picture

He has: 3,348 posts

Joined: Jul 2001

If you have their IP address, you could ping them. In a terminal (command-line), type ping -- where xxx represents their IP address.

Even if you get a ping response, it doesn't imply they are at the computer, or that they're invisible on MSN/ICQ/whatever. It could just be that the computer is connected to the net, and nothing more. Smiling

mairving's picture

They have: 2,256 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

There are programs that will allow someone on your budlist to get your IP address. For the most part this really shouldn't matter all that much. If you are on dialup, your IP address is meaningless since it will change every time you dialup. If you are on broadband it still changes but not as often. Still if you have broadband and have your computer naked to the Internet by not having a firewall of some kind, you have probably already been hacked. So getting your IP address won't help all that much.

Mark Irving
I have a mind like a steel trap; it is rusty and illegal in 47 states

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