Which tool would you use to display the path packets take to a destination in Windows?

• A. Tracert
• B. Ping
• C. Nslookup
• D. Ipconfig

Answer: (A)

To display the path packets take to a destination in Windows, use a traceroute tool—specifically the tracert command. It shows each hop along the route and the time it takes for packets to reach that hop. It works by sending ICMP Echo Request messages with increasing TTL values. As routers along the path decrement TTL, when it reaches zero a router sends back an ICMP Time Exceeded message, letting tracert map the route. The output lists each hop, the device that replied, and the round-trip time for each; if a hop doesn’t respond, you’ll see timeouts or asterisks. This helps identify where delays or failures occur.

Ping, by contrast, only tests whether a host is reachable and measures latency to that single destination, not the path. Nslookup queries DNS records, and Ipconfig shows your local network configuration details like IP address and default gateway.