WinPcap: the Free Packet Capture Architecture for Windows


Last modified: Tuesday, February 03, 2004 14.13


WARNING:
you must uninstall older versions (see Q-2 in the FAQ to know how) and reboot the system before installing the new ones, otherwise WinPcap could not work properly.

IMPORTANT NOTE: sometimes, when uninstalling WinPcap version 2.02 or older from the control panel's network applet in Windows 9x, the file Windows\Packet.dll is not deleted. You must delete this file manually, otherwise newer versions will not work properly and could cause system crashes.

WinPcap 3.1 beta download

Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003

Instructions

WinPcap auto-installer (driver +DLLs)

 

  • download and run the executable
  • follow the instructions on the screen. The installation applet will automatically detect the operating system and install the correct drivers (if you see a dialog like this, simply ignore this and click on "Continue anyway")
  • the WinPcap-based applications are now ready to work
  • to remove winpcap from the system, go to the control-panel, click on "add/remove programs" and then select "WinPcap"

Developer's pack download

Developer's pack This ZIP compressed file contains the files needed to create new capture applications using the packet capture driver, packet.dll and libpcap for Windows. It contains the library and include files, the capture drivers and some examples.
  • download WPdpack.zip
  • uncompress it to the desired folder

Source code download

WinPcap source code This ZIP compressed file contains the full WinPcap source code distribution. It includes the sources of libpcap, packet.dll and the NPF packet driver.
  • download WPcapSrc.zip
  • uncompress it to the desired folder

 

WinPcap 3.0 download

Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP

Instructions

WinPcap auto-installer (driver +DLLs)

 

  • download and run the executable
  • follow the instructions on the screen. The installation applet will automatically detect the operating system and install the correct drivers
  • the WinPcap-based applications are now ready to work
  • to remove winpcap from the system, go to the control-panel, click on "add/remove programs" and then select "WinPcap"

Developer's pack download

Developer's pack This ZIP compressed file contains the files needed to create new capture applications using the packet capture driver, packet.dll and libpcap for Windows. It contains the library and include files, the capture drivers and some examples.
  • download WPdpack.zip
  • uncompress it to the desired folder

Source code download

WinPcap source code This ZIP compressed file contains the full WinPcap source code distribution. It includes the sources of libpcap, packet.dll and the NPF packet driver.
  • download WPcapSrc.zip
  • uncompress it to the desired folder

 

Other Stuff

Older Versions

Older versions of WinPcap are still available following this link

Transparent installation

This file installs WinPcap silently, without making the installation screen appearing and without any user intervention. This installer is useful particularly for applications of programs and tools that require WinPcap to run, and that want to install WinPcap during their "master" installation process. There is a drawback, however: in such a way, the user does not know that WinPcap has been installed; therefore it cannot ask assistance to WinPcap guys in case of problems.

Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP

Instructions

WinPcap 3.0 auto-installer (driver + DLLs)

 

  • download and run the executable
  • the installation applet will automatically detect the operating system and install the correct drivers
  • the WinPcap-based applications are now ready to work
  • to remove winpcap from the system, go to the control-panel, click on "add/remove programs" and then select "WinPcap"

NOTES:
- The preferred installation method is the one with the graphical installer, since we do not provide support for this kind of installation.
- Sometimes it is necessary to reboot the machine, although the  installation does not ask to do so.


WinPcap for Windows CE

The source code of a CE version of WinPcap. 

WinPcap for Windows CE

 

NOTES:

  • This is an experimental version, we don't guarantee it will work correctly in any situation.
  •  At the moment only source code is provided. You will have to compile it on your own.
  • We didn't develop this code, so we don't provide any support for it.
  • This version might not be aligned with the latest version of WinPcap.

The CE version was tested successfully (not by us) on Compaq Pocket PC and HP Jornada.

Known limitations:

  1. The driver can be used to open only one adapter that is present in the system. not more than one adapter can be opened at any given point of time. Also, only one instance of the adapter can be opened.
  2. Statistics mode is not present.
  3. Only one request at a time is supported, requests are not queued.
  4. It works on Windows CE 3.0. may work on CE 2.x also but it was never tested.