how do i trace a i.p. address

You can enter the IP in this form:
http://ws.arin.net/cgi-bin/whois.pl

and it will tell you who holds the registration on that IP address. It
will NOT pinpoint it to a specific user or machine. To get that
information, you would have to go through the organization that the IP
range is registered to. In some cases, machines don't even *have*
fixed IPs. If you are trying to track down a specific user due to some
sort of abuse, the best course is to send a complaint to the
registered organization.

Search performed:
"ip whois"
://www.google.com/search?q=ip+whois

Cheers,
nauster-ga

A site that I like to use for that purpose is:

http://www.all-nettools.com/tools1.htm

It gives more information like mailing addresses etc.

Use tracert (if you're using windows) to find the path taken to the ip
address in question. You run tracert from the command prompt/msdos
prompt
Example:    tracert 192.168.0.1 will show the path taken between your
computer and the IP address in question - it will show not only the
path taken, but the DNS name of each 'hop' by using reverse dns
lookup.
This can be more useful than doing a 'whois' as some IP addresses out
on the net are NOT registered to a DNS name so a 'whois' will be
fruitless, whereas using a tracert (traceroute) will give you a list
of the network/isp responsible for the IP address, thereby allowing
you to find out a little about the possible owner of the ip address in
question.

Rgds

Phil Blythe CCNA

Try VisualRoute; it is a graphical frontend to traceroute (tracert).
It provides additional information such as the geographical location
of the machine, the service provider etc.

You can either download the software, or access a web-enabled version
at http://visualroute.visualware.com/

List of NICs :

America - www.arin.net
Asia Pacific - www.apnic.net
Europe - www.ripe.net

Try downloading an IP sniffer it will trace all IP activity.