Strange problems with IP / DNS caching

July 3, 2004 7:25 AM

Strange problems with IP / DNS caching (maybe) {more inside}

This is odd. We have two computers which I'll call the server and the desktop. Server does nothing but run the adsl and store files.

One website my wife uses moved servers recently. Since then she's been getting the old site while the server can view the new site.

I ran tracert on both and found that the two machines are calling different IP addresses, so I've changed her hosts to bounce her to the new IP, but this feels hacky and short term. What's happened and how do I fix it?

both PCs are Win XP Pro, running Firefox and IE 6.

posted by twine42 to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Try "ipconfig /flushdns" at a command prompt, or simply reboot the computers.
posted by blue mustard at 7:57 AM on July 3, 2004

I find this solution (all typed at the same command prompt) more relilable than the simple DNS flush:

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /renew
posted by Danelope at 8:13 AM on July 3, 2004

Response by poster: The computers have both been rebooted multiple times - this has been happening for about two weeks, but I've only just got round to looking into it.

I'll try flushing it though. Thanks guys.
posted by twine42 at 10:46 AM on July 3, 2004

If flushing the DNS cache doesn't work, look at the DNS configuration for both machines and make sure they're using the same DNS server. DNS updates take time to propagate, and different servers take longer to update than others, which would be another reason for the discrepancy. Only waiting will solve that issue, however.
posted by Danelope at 11:41 AM on July 3, 2004