dns lookup problem

9 Nov 2006 4:37 PM

bob

I'm experiencing what appears to be a dns lookup problem after my laptop sits
unused overnight. The next morning when I attempt to access a web site
(either with IE or Firefox), I get a "site not found" error.

I've tried ipconfig /flushdns and ipconfig /registerdns. Neither solves the
problem.   nslookup will resolve the name. Using the ip address from
nslookup directly in IE or Firefox will display the web page. So I know
basic connectivity is working.

The only action that solves the problem is to reboot the laptop. Logging
off and then logging in again does not help.

I have searched many different groups and discovered several people
reporting what appears to be the same problem. However, I have not been able
to find a solution.

Any suggestions?

Details:
    XP Pro SP2 - configured to use DHCP. No explicit DNS entries or
Gateways defined for network connection. ipconfig /all shows that DNS
Servers and Default Gateway point to wireless router. IP Address is valid
and lease is current.
    Wireless router - acts as DHCP server for internal network. Config page
for router shows that DNS Servers and Default Gateway point to ISP supplied
values. IP address assigned by ISP is valid and lease is current.
    Cable modem

9 Nov 2006 6:15 PM

ArunRaveendran

You could try setting the DNS server IP of your ISP manually in the setting
for your network connection.

You can do this by obtaining the DNS server IP used by ISP and then going to
Network Connections in Control Panel, Right Click on your LAN connection and
choose Properties
.. Click on TCP/IP and then click on Properties.
Enter the DNS server IP in the DNS box.
Click Apply then, OK

Your problem should be solved by now

Show quoteHide quote

"bob" wrote:

> I'm experiencing what appears to be a dns lookup problem after my laptop sits
> unused overnight. The next morning when I attempt to access a web site
> (either with IE or Firefox), I get a "site not found" error.
>
> I've tried ipconfig /flushdns and ipconfig /registerdns. Neither solves the
> problem.   nslookup will resolve the name. Using the ip address from
> nslookup directly in IE or Firefox will display the web page. So I know
> basic connectivity is working.
>
> The only action that solves the problem is to reboot the laptop. Logging
> off and then logging in again does not help.
>
> I have searched many different groups and discovered several people
> reporting what appears to be the same problem. However, I have not been able
> to find a solution.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Details:
>     XP Pro SP2 - configured to use DHCP. No explicit DNS entries or
> Gateways defined for network connection. ipconfig /all shows that DNS
> Servers and Default Gateway point to wireless router. IP Address is valid
> and lease is current.
>     Wireless router - acts as DHCP server for internal network. Config page
> for router shows that DNS Servers and Default Gateway point to ISP supplied
> values. IP address assigned by ISP is valid and lease is current.
>     Cable modem

9 Nov 2006 6:37 PM

Malke

ArunRaveendran wrote:

>
> You could try setting the DNS server IP of your ISP manually in the
> setting for your network connection.
>
> You can do this by obtaining the DNS server IP used by ISP and then
> going to Network Connections in Control Panel, Right Click on your LAN
> connection and choose Properties
> . Click on TCP/IP and then click on Properties.
> Enter the DNS server IP in the DNS box.
> Click Apply then, OK

In addition to the above excellent advice, call your ISP and see if they
are having trouble with their DNS servers. For ex., Comcast had some
tremendous problems with their DNS servers earlier this year (or maybe
it was last year, I don't remember exactly). The workaround was to
manually enter some other nameservers until Comcast got their act
together.

Malke

--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

10 Nov 2006 7:40 PM

bob

Since nslookup was able to resolve host names to ip addresses, I was assuming
that the ISP's DNS servers were working OK. My ISP is Comcast - so their
problems might have reoccurred. However, if that was the case, I would
expect to have intermittent DNS problems during the course of the day - and
that never happened. (yea - I know that the dnscache service in XP would
have cached previously accessed names - and that might have masked the
problem).

10 Nov 2006 7:34 PM

bob

Last night I made the changes that you suggested and then let the laptop sit
unattended overnight. Checked again this morning - and the "dns lookup"
problem did not occur. No reboot necessary.

Hopefully that solves the problem. Just need to check occasionally that the
ISP doesn't change DNS server addresses.

Of course, if I take my laptop to another location and want to use a
different wireless setup, I might have a problem. But that's easy enough to
handle.

Thanks for your help.