Fix your DNS problems - Computerworld

Fix your DNS problems - Computerworld: "NS, though, can be your foe as well as your friend. DNS problems may stop you from being able to visit Web sites. If you're having problems connecting, it doesn't take much work to see if DNS is the cause, and if it is, to try to fix it.

To find out whether DNS is a potential culprit when you're having trouble connecting to a site, first ping the site to which you can't connect by issuing the ping command at the command prompt, like this:"

ping www.computerworld.com

If the site is live, you'll get an answer like this (Note: text below has line breaks inserted to fit into the Web page display):

Pinging www.computerworld.com 
[65.221.110.98] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 65.221.110.98: bytes=32 
time=22ms TTL=235
Reply from 65.221.110.98: bytes=32 
time=23ms TTL=235
Reply from 65.221.110.98: bytes=32 
time=23ms TTL=235
Reply from 65.221.110.98: bytes=32 
time=24ms TTL=235

Ping statistics for 65.221.110.98:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, 
Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in 
milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 22ms, Maximum = 24ms, 
Average = 23ms

If it's not, you'll get a response like this:

Ping request could not find host. 
Please check the name and try again.

If you ping a site and it's live but you can't connect to it with your browser, a DNS problem might be the reason. If you suspect you're having a DNS problem, take the following actions: