cannot connect to character lobby

[Raist]

It is a built in command that can be run from the Command Prompt. How you get to the command prompt can vary a little depending on your version of Windows. It will be nested in various places in your programs listing, but it is easy to get to using the Search or Run boxes. If you have the normal Start button (or running something like Classic Shell in Windows 8), click that and type the letters "cmd" in either the Run or Search box and press the <enter> key.

If you are using the Metro interface of Windows 8, there are two ways to search for it. Can switch to Desktop, mouse over as deep as you can into the lower left corner until a thumbnail of the metro desktop pops up, right click that and click Search or Run. If you want to stay in Metro, open the Charms menu on the right side of your screen. You can use the shortcut command (Windows key+C), or mouse over to the lower right corner of your screen to the [-] icon (a row of icons should break out) then mouse up to see the full charms panel with words and icons. Forget how it pops up on a touch screen--think its a 2 or 3 finger swipe from the right edge of the screen. Click "Search", type the letters "cmd" and press the <enter> key.

Sorry, haven't tinkered with Windows 8.1 yet, mostly because of all the problems being reported about it. But, it should at least follow the Charms method, or have at least a search box off the new start button similar to how it was in older Windows releases.

You should now see a small window with a black background and white text showing your windows version, and a folder path with a flashing cursor. Should look sort of like this:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.2.9200]
(c) 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\UserName>_

Type the command "ping" followed by the IP address or website name, then press the <enter> key . For example:

ping 199.91.189.31 <enter>
ping www.google.com <enter>

It should spit out text something like this for a successful ping:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.2.9200]
(c) 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\UserName>ping www.google.com

Pinging www.google.com [74.125.131.106] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 74.125.131.106: bytes=32 time=57ms TTL=46
Reply from 74.125.131.106: bytes=32 time=44ms TTL=46
Reply from 74.125.131.106: bytes=32 time=42ms TTL=46
Reply from 74.125.131.106: bytes=32 time=44ms TTL=46

Ping statistics for 74.125.131.106:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 42ms, Maximum = 57ms, Average = 46ms

C:\Users\UserName>

If you don't see it give a 4/4 send and received type of response, there are connectivity problems reaching that destination. Double check you entered the IP or web address properly, correct if necessary and run it again if needed.

Type the word "exit" and press <enter> to close the command prompt.