Your own computer responds to this ping. The most common use for the localhost is to send a ping request. You can use the Windows command prompt to test the connection and detect any performance problems. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, regulates the assignment of public IP addresses. If you are logged in as administrator, open the command prompt and follow these steps: 1. open run function (Windows key + R) 2. type \\"cdm\\" and press Enter 3. type: ping 127.0.0.1 or ping localhost. Then you will see the results on the screen. The number of sent, received and lost data will be listed. You can also see the approximate runtime of the data transfer.