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On my Windows XP SP3 machine I can only browse (with any browser) by putting in an ip address. If I put in any domain name it doesn't work. Skype and IM work. In command prompt nslookup works to resolve the name to an ip address, but ping does not work using a domain name, only using the ip address.

Other computers on the same network can surf the net normally without any problems. I am not using a proxy. I already reset winsock and tcpip stack to no avail. Can anyone help me solve the problem?

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migrated from serverfault.com Jul 30 '09 at 13:44

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Can you clarify? Are you saying that you cannot ping your DNS server? Or that when you attempt to ping by hostname, the DNS lookup fails? –  Murali Suriar Jun 18 '09 at 12:08
Thanks, I just edited the problem to explain that. –  Moshe Lewin Jun 18 '09 at 12:22

3 Answers 3

Try the following: Start->Run>ipconfig /flushdns and hit enter. Does it help?

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Thanks, tried it, did restart, no change. –  Moshe Lewin Jun 18 '09 at 11:49

ICMP Ping != DNS UDP Connectivity. It is very possible that your DNS server is firewalled and is blocking ICMP ping requests. If it is doing DNS lookups according to your nslookup command, then your DNS server is working fine.

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It's a bit hard to read what he's trying to explain (obviously not english native), but it seems like he's having difficulties doing DNS lookups aswell. –  pauska Jun 18 '09 at 11:21
Windows firewall is off. ZoneAlarm has my DNS server IP address in the trusted zone. –  Moshe Lewin Jun 18 '09 at 11:51

Do you have a DNS server listed in your IP configuration? Is it the same as the DNS servers in the working peer boxes? Are you getting your network settings via DHCP?

If it's DHCP it could be that you have recieved DHCP info with no DNS server info, or that the info you got is wrong. We have had this happen with either rogue DHCP servers (somebody stuck a little router/wireless access point on the network etc) or when the DNS server has had its info changed but a client hasn't gotten new address yet. Try ipconfig /release all followed by ipconfig /renew

If you're not on DHCP it options include: The DNS server you were pointed to has failed and everyone else has a different secondary address than you. There is a typo in your DNS server entries.

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When I do ipconfig /release all I get this response:The operation failed as no adapter is in the state permissible for this operation. –  Moshe Lewin Jun 18 '09 at 13:42
All the computers on our network have only a singe DNS server address entered. –  Moshe Lewin Jun 18 '09 at 13:43

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