What OS are you using? WIN95, WIN98, etc??? This information determines what the function is called and where to find it. Isn't Windows fun?/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif
The best thing to do is to find either the Command Prompt or DOS Prompt application. Once you locate it, execute it and then type in:
You will then get the data returned from the ping.
What you are doing is sending a datagram to the server asking how long it took for the datagram to get there in milliseconds. Depending on the time of day, time of month, and other variables, it is an indication of how busy the internet is between you and the target network device (server in this case). Again there are other variables involved such as the route chosen by the routers. It can vary depending upon broken links, network device availability, load leveling, and a range of other factors.