Install and configure Network Scanner

Before you start

This page installs Network Scanner on the PC you will scan from and sets it up the way the course expects. It takes about fifteen minutes. You need:

The installer, netscanner_setup.exe, downloaded from the vendor and verified with its SHA-256 hash and Authenticode signature — see Download.
A Windows PC on the office network. The vendor lists Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to 2016; on anything newer, test first.
Either administrator rights on that PC, or the willingness to use the non-admin install mode.
Your authorisation note from lesson 1, if you intend to scan straight away.

Pick the PC with care. At Kestrel it is the IT laptop, KT-IT01, which has a reserved address on the staff segment and can reach the server and camera segments through the router. A PC on the guest Wi-Fi, or one connected through a VPN that only routes some subnets, will see a different network — lesson 1 explains why that matters.

Administrator or non-admin install?

On Windows 7 and newer the classic install needs administrator rights. Since version 4.4.221 the installer also offers a mode that installs without them, and it asks which one you want.

	Administrator install	Non-admin install
Needs admin rights	Yes, once, during setup	No
Who can use it	Every user of the PC	The account that installed it
Good for	A dedicated IT PC used by several admins	Your own profile on a locked-down PC
Scanning	No admin rights needed	No admin rights needed

Either way, you scan as a normal user. That matters for lesson 11, where you run the program as a standard test account: it works because scanning never needed administrator rights in the first place.

Install step by step

Run the verified installer
Double-click netscanner_setup.exe. If Windows shows a User Account Control prompt, check that the verified publisher shown is LizardSystems before you allow it. A prompt showing “Unknown publisher” means the signature is missing: stop and go back to the download checks.
Choose the install mode
When the installer asks, choose the administrator install for a shared IT PC or the non-admin install for your own profile, as above.
Accept the licence agreement
Read it — the key points are summarised on the Download page: personal use is free, business use needs a per-machine licence, and the evaluation lasts 30 days.
Keep the default folder
Unless your organisation has a rule about where software lives, accept the suggested folder. It keeps updates and support simple.
Finish and launch
Let the installer finish and start the program. The installer is clean — the vendor states it has no adware or bundled software — so there are no extra offers to untick.

First launch and the licence

An unregistered copy runs as a full 30-day evaluation and shows reminder screens. What you do next depends on how you will use the program:

Situation	What to do
Home network, learning, non-commercial	Use the vendor’s “Get free license” option to register for a free personal key. Registering removes the startup reminder.
Work network, deciding whether to buy	Use the 30-day evaluation; it has no functional limits. Note the start date.
Work network, decided	Buy a business licence for each machine that will run it and enter the key the vendor sends.

Registration needs internet access; scanning does not. If your scanning PC has no internet access, follow the vendor’s instructions for registering, or ask their support.

Network Scanner menu bar with File, Target, Address, Scan, Resources, Tools, View and Help, and the toolbar — Figure 1 The menus and toolbar you will see on first launch. The Help menu is where registration and version information live in most Windows programs — check it for the version number you installed.

Course-ready preferences

Network Scanner works out of the box, but a few preferences make the course’s results consistent with what the lessons show. Open the Preferences dialog; it has tabs for General, Interface, Scanning, Check state, Netbios (Samba), FTP and HTTP.

Preferences, General tab: Clear list before Scan unticked; After scanning Expand only computer groups selected; Save state and resources of a computer unticked; Sort by computer state ticked — Figure 2 **General** as shipped. The course turns on **Clear list before Scan** so that each saved result holds exactly one scan.

Preferences, Scanning tab: Threads 64; Find computer name set to Netbios name; Find DNS name if netbios name failed unticked; Delete resource of inactive computer from list ticked — Figure 3 **Scanning** as shipped. The course ticks **Find DNS name if netbios name failed** so printers and appliances get names too.

Tab	Setting	Course value	Why
General	Clear list before Scan	On	One scan per result file makes comparisons honest (lesson 7)
General	After scanning	Expand only computer groups	A readable tree; expand computers as you need them
General	Sort by computer state	On (default)	Active computers first
Scanning	Threads	64 (default)	Plenty for a few hundred addresses
Scanning	Find computer name	Netbios name + DNS fallback	Windows hosts report their own names; appliances fall back to DNS (lesson 6)
Check state	Type of checking	Ping, with ports 445,139,80,443 and “If check failed try another method”	Finds hosts whose firewall ignores ping (lesson 6)
Netbios (Samba)	Authorization	Current user	Change only for the test-user scan in lesson 11
FTP	Authorization	Anonymous	Finds servers that let anyone in (lesson 8)
HTTP	Port list	80, 8080 plus your devices’ ports	Finds every web console (lesson 8)

Set up your workspace

Create the course’s notebook folders now so that nothing lands in Downloads or Documents by accident:

PowerShell

New-Item -ItemType Directory C:\LANScan365\results, C:\LANScan365\exports, C:\LANScan365\notes -Force

Then record the installation itself: the date, the version you installed, the verified hash, the licence type and the PC. It is a four-line note, and it answers the first questions anyone reviewing your work will ask.

C:\LANScan365\notes\install.md

Installed: 2026-09-15 on KT-IT01 (administrator install)
Version:   21.07, netscanner_setup.exe, SHA-256 5421a6dd...63f8d6 (matches vendor), signature Valid
Licence:   30-day evaluation started 2026-09-15; business licence ordered 2026-09-16
Settings:  see check-profile.md

Updating and uninstalling

To update, download the new installer from the vendor, verify it the same way (a new version has a new hash), and run it. Your saved result files in C:\LANScan365\results\ are separate from the program and are not touched.

To uninstall, use Settings → Apps (or Programs and Features in Control Panel on older Windows), find Network Scanner and choose Uninstall. If you are retiring the PC that held your scans, move C:\LANScan365\ to wherever your organisation keeps IT records first — the notebook is more valuable than the program.

If the install goes wrong

“Windows protected your PC” (SmartScreen)

Likely cause: SmartScreen warns about files it has not seen often, even signed ones.

Fix: Check the hash and signature again. If both match the vendor, choose More info and run it. If they do not, delete the file.

The installer asks for administrator rights you do not have

Likely cause: You chose, or defaulted to, the administrator install.

Fix: Run it again and choose the non-admin mode, or ask IT to install it for all users.

The program starts but some windows are blank

Likely cause: The program uses the Internet Explorer component, which may be restricted on your PC.

Fix: The vendor requires the IE 8+ component; check with whoever manages your Windows images whether it has been removed or locked down by policy.

Endpoint protection quarantines the file

Likely cause: Some security tools treat any network scanner as a potentially unwanted program.

Fix: Talk to whoever runs your endpoint protection; show them the hash, the signature and your authorisation note, and ask for an exception for the verified file.

Installed and configured? Go to lesson 4: Your first scan — or, if you have not started the course yet, begin with the map in lesson 1.

Lesson 4