Eric Bergman-Terrell's Blog

Troubleshooting Tip: How to determine which programs are listening to which TCP/IP Ports
October 4, 2010

Run netstat -b to determine which programs are listening to which TCP/IP ports. For example, here's the output that I got when I ran netstat -b on my machine. Note: I've replaced the actual digits with X:

Active Connections

  Proto  Local Address          Foreign Address        State           PID
  TCP    DIM3000:XXXX           localhost:XXXX         ESTABLISHED     XXXX
  [firefox.exe]

  TCP    DIM3000:XXXX           localhost:XXXX         ESTABLISHED     XXXX
  [firefox.exe]

  TCP    DIM3000:XXXX           XXX.XXX.X.X:XXXX       ESTABLISHED     XXXX
  c:\windows\system32\WS2_32.dll
  C:\WINDOWS\System32\WINHTTP.dll
  [svchost.exe]

  TCP    DIM3000:XXXX           server2005.re-invent.com:ms-sql-s  ESTABLISHED     XXXX
  [devenv.exe]

  TCP    DIM3000:XXXX           XX.XX.XX.XX:http       ESTABLISHED     XXXX
  [firefox.exe]

  TCP    DIM3000:XXXX           server2005.re-invent.com:ms-sql-s  TIME_WAIT       0

The Firefox browser (firefox.exe) was listening to three ports. Visual Studio 2005 (devenv.exe) was listening to one port.

netstat is useful for troubleshooting SQL Server connection pooling issues, plus it's useful for hunting down spyware on your machine.

Keywords: TCP/IP Ports, netstat

Reader Comments

Comment on this Blog Post

Recent Posts

TitleDate
Node.js + Express: How to Block Requests by User-Agent HeadersJanuary 7, 2026
Vault 3 is Now Available for Windows on ARM Machines!December 13, 2025
Vault 3: How to Include Outline Text in Exported PhotosOctober 26, 2025
.NET Public-Key (Asymmetric) Cryptography DemoJuly 20, 2025
Raspberry Pi 3B+ Photo FrameJune 17, 2025
EBTCalc (Android) Version 1.53 is now availableMay 19, 2024
Vault 3 Security EnhancementsOctober 24, 2023