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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Windows XP DNS problems

rdavis - May 22, 2007 - 7:56 am

Hi, I am having a problem with my computer. We have some local servers on our network which for some reason I can not access via their name, however I can via IP address. All other computers on the network can simply put the server name into the address bar and the server page will be displayed, however on my machine its fails to find the site and re-directs me to the microsoft search page.

I have tried using the same cable and IP address/dns settings with a different machine and it worked fine - the problem only seems to be with this one machine.

I also use mapped network drives which don't work anymore.

The machine used to be fine and is not used much so I don't understand what the problem can be.

Any thoughts?

Thanks a lot!

stottm - May 24, 2007 - 7:04 am

There could be several things wrong:

1. Make sure the working computers are not using a HOSTS file rather then DNS to locate the servers IP address. The "hosts" file is in your C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc folder. It's a plain text file listing host names and IP addresses. This can and will override DNS. If you find the servers you cannot reach listed in the HOSTS file of the computers that work, then you need to add the entries to your own HOSTS file of the computer that does not work.

2. Run NSLOOKUP on both the computer that doesn't work and the computers that do. This is a utility that talks to DNS. You should be able to type in the IP address and it will return the hostname from the DNS server and visa versa enter the hostname and the IP address will be returned. You should get similar results from both computers.

3. On the computer that doesn't work check the DNS settings - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u.../tcpipdns.mspx - Check the domain connection suffix. i.e. the server might be registered in DNS like this "hostname.us.intranet" where the ".us.intranet" should be listed in the DNS suffix entry along with any other suffix entries. So when you connect to just "hostname" the system automatically figures out it should be "hostname.us.intranet" or whatever suffix your company might be using.

4. Run IPCONFIG /FLUSHDNS and then IPCONFIG /REGISTERDNS - Check the event logs to ensure you're actually registered in DNS and not getting an error in the system log. Try an IPCONFIG /RELEASE * and reboot the problematic computer.

5. Finally it might not be DNS but WINS or NetBIOS name resolution. i.e. if the servers you are trying to connect to are Windows servers then you might not even need DNS to get to them. Check your TCP/IP settings in regards to the NetBIOS over TCP/IP to see if it's the same as the other computers. Check to see if the Computer Browser service is running or disabled and compare to the working computers.

It sounds like someone changed something on the network and like you said, this computer hasn't been used in a while and thus it didn't get it's settings modified.