How do I check the status of the target machine on the network?

You can use several methods to check the target machine's status: 1) **Ping:** Open a command prompt and type `ping [target machine's IP address or hostname]`. If you receive replies, the machine is reachable. 2) **Traceroute:** Use the `tracert [target machine's IP address or hostname]` command to see the route packets take to the machine. If the traceroute stops at a certain point, it indicates a problem with that network segment. 3) **Network Monitoring Tools:** Use network monitoring tools like Wireshark to capture network traffic and analyze connection attempts.