Keep losing ability to resolve DNS

Every 2 to 4 days (not consistant down to the hour) I lose the ability to resolve dns. I am still connected to the internet, as I can send and receive e-mail, I can for example ping yahoo, microsoft, usatoday, etc. I can get a few websites, like my local bank, where I can log in and do anything I would normally do. However, IE7 (v 7.0.5730.11) will not display USAToday, Microsoft, Google or much of anything else. Neither will Firefox (v 2.0.0.6); my Intellicast weather applet loses its connection and my Yahoo widgets lose their connection.

I am on a Verizon DSL connection. There is nothing in the house using the line or trying to dial out (not that it should matter). At a command prompt, [ipconfig/all] reports a valid ip address and valid DNS servers. [ipconfig/release] then [/renew] doesn't help. [ipconfig/flushdns] successfully flushes the DNS cache, but doesn't correct the issue. I have tried manually entering DNS servers rather than leaving it on automatic and that hasn't helped. Turning off the DSL modem and resetting it doesn't help. Turning off the WinXP firewall doesn't help. Turning off NortonAV and worm protection and everything else doesn't help.

The only thing that always fixes it is a restart, (btw, since the re-install, it never shuts down or restarts the first time, I always have to do it twice ) where it will work fine for a few days then the same thing all over. This is driving me nuts. I did troubleshooting with Verizon for nearly an hour when they gave up and said the issue is mine.

My PC is (and always has been) on 24/7. This issue came up after a complete re-install of XP (to correct other issues).

Any ideas??

 

Think you've found something that happens to all computers, at various intervals, depending on the quality of their parts such as memory and the HDD. Windows needs to be re-read into memory periodically so it's refreshed, and needs to be reinstalled onto the disk drive periodically, too. I'm always inpressed at how much better it runs after a re-installation. Suggest you keep restarting when necessary. Dont believe there's anything else you can do unliss you want to invest in premium parts.

 

Try OpenDNS and see if it helps. It's free and requires no download of software, just a simple change from automatic DNS to a static address source. Follow the site directions and it'll be a cake walk.

If your ISP's DNS server is not reliable, this could be the answer.

One caviat, using it will not allow Ad-Aware to access the home site for any updates. That may or may not apply in all cases but it certainly gave me fits before I discovered the reason.

 

I had no problem with AdAware SE when I switched to OpenDNS. I still use the free version and manually update.

 

TonyT - a complete format, from scratch re-install.

surferdude2 - I had already tried a manual DNS entry which didn't help, but I am currently using openDNS to see what happens. One day and 14 hours so far and still working. Like you, my system will not retrieve the update from AdAware now. Wierd...

Sparrow - with all due respect, this makes no sense. You are telling me that my DNS issue is due to the cheap parts in a 1-year old highend Dell??

 

Sorry, Blueberry. Bad choice of words. Have yet to see a computer that runs indefinitely 24/7 without ever needing a reboot. Even the Mars rover (over a $million) had to reboot over 60 times before it finally got going. Your guess is as good as mine why that happens; all it takes is a one-bit error in a critical place to cause trouble. With stray electric/magnetic fields ubiquitous, it's a wonder computers run as well as they do. I do think cheaper hardware is more likely to suffer, possibly as a result of less expert design.

When you say a reboot fixes your problem, that seems to put it in the area of - relatively - unavoidable glitches, and a high end Dell hasn't an Asus or similar proprietary MoBo, etc., so...

 

I recently came across a similar problem (though all the time, rather than intermittent). Everything worked normally - e.g. I could ping and nslookup by URL, which told me this wasn't and underlying DNS problem - except access to web pages. Both Firefox and IE would refuse to access the internet.

It turned out to be the anti-virus. It was a new PC with Bulldog anti-virus installed. This was out-of-date, which seemingly caused it to block internet access until it was updated.

Uninstalled Bulldog and installed an alternative anti-virus product and everything started working correctly.

I wonder if your problem could be something like a dodgy anti-virus system blocking access until its update completes.

 

If at the cmd prompt you get a successful result to:

Code:

nslookup www.windowsbbs.com

or

Code:

ping www.windowsbbs.com

There is nothing wrong with your underlying DNS system. Instead there is an application or windows system preventing access.