June 1st, 1998

Many Windows 95 machines are being misconfigured by enabling DNS and entering one DNS server at 146.7.2.2.  This machine is one of FIVE domain name server used by Missouri State University which are automatically provided to Windows 95 clients through DHCP.  If the primary DNS (146.7.2.2 or 146.7.25.27) is down, the other servers won't take over since the workstation never sends a query to the backup servers.

Workstations with this problem will not be able to connect to any IP (Internet Protocol) based services including:  web sites, mainframe applications, Unix hosts, or Windows NT servers.  If the client machine can ping by IP address, but not by DNS name, it probably is misconfigured in this way.

To correct the problem:

For Windows 95: START; CONTROL PANEL; NETWORK; TCP/IP -> "your network card"; PROPERTIES; DNS CONFIGURATION tab; DISABLE DNS; OK… and back out.

Note:  Dial-in users should refer to appropriate documentation for proper configuration of these values.