IE6 and slow domain resolution

[ft]

System: Windows XP SP2
P4 with 512MB RAM

Fully defraged; all temp files & cookies deleted; rebooted; no
firewall running; no virus checker running; Previous scans with MS
AntiSpyware, AdAware, Norton Virus Checker and The Cleaner all say the
system is clean.

Bring up Internet Explorer6 and type in a web site; any website and
there is exactly a 7 second delay before the site is resolved into its
IP address. Once that happens, my speedy cable modem brings up the
page with no problems.
This same problem is seen with the latest version of the Opera
browser.
However, if I load up FireFox browser (either version 1.0 or version
1.1) or even the old Netscape Communicator browser version 4.7, and
type in the same site, there is vitually no delay at all and the page
is on my screen in less then 1 second.
BUT, if I type in the site as its actual numerical IP address,
however, instead of its name, then Internet Explorer brings it to the
screen in about 1 sec. The 7 second delay is gone.

This seems to indicate that something is causing IE6 to experience a 7
second delay getting the information either to, or from, the DNS
server. But whatever is causing this, seems to have no effect on the
Firefox or Netscape Communicator browser.

The last piece to this puzzle is that my other computer (a P3 with
512MB RAM), also running Windows XP SP2, does NOT show this 7 second
delay with IE6!

I've tried opening a Command Prompt and typing: ipconfig/flushdns,
but this has had no effect on the problem noted above.

I've uninstalled and reinstalled Internet Explorer but still the same
problem persists.

I've changed the settings in TCP/IP for the adapter from automatically
getting the DNS server, to actual DNS server addresses but this has
done nothing to solve this issue.

I've dozens of spyware detectors; virus checkers and HijackThis.
nothing shows up.

Can anyone help me with this situation?
Has anyone else experienced this? It would not seem to be a SP2
problem since, as noted, my other machine is running SP2 and this
oddity is not there.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Hi ft;

Are you using a router?

I was experiencing similar problems. An exhaustive search led me to a
solution, though not 100%. I was getting very slow DNS resolution, to the
point that often pages were not loading at all. I entered the DNS servers
manually and that seems to solve the problem 90% of the time. Occasionally it
will sart to act up, so I will reset my connection, which automatically
flushes the DNS cache. In th event that doesn't work, then I reboot.

This is a problem that a number of users have reported to Microsoft, but as
of yet no "official" solution has been posted. I am patiently awaiting a
patch. Consequently, I had the same problem pre SP2.

 

[ft]

Hi TJWB,
Nope. No router. I have the cable modem directly linked into the NIC
on this box. There is a hub connected to this same box via a second
NIC, but I've unplugged that and still get the same result. As noted
in my original message, I have indeed tried using actual DNS server
addresses instead of the "Find DNS Server Automatically" setting.
Still get the same 7-10 second delay with IE6.
Any other ideas would be most appreciated.
Thxs.

 

[Guest]

Hi FT;

Another thing to try is to locate your HOSTS file (no extension). It will be
in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC . The Hosts file contains the mappings
of IP addresses to host names. This file is loaded into memory at startup,
then Windows checks the Hosts file before it queries any DNS servers, which
enables it to override addresses in the DNS. This prevents access to the
listed sites by redirecting any connection attempts back to the local machine.

Add .txt to the file name and open it up. check the entries and see if it is
blocking your DNS server, or if it is extensively long (could cause slow dns
resolution)
I actually removed everything and left the HOSTS file with the .txt
extension and had no problems.

TJWB