Windows Server - Server not found

My firewall takes a good bit of setting up to allow for my various
programs. One day, I noticed the firewall was not in System Tray, so I went
back to  a older registry and rebooted.

Since that time, the firewall is back to normal, and I can still dial up to
my ISP server, but my browser and newsreader at any address give the
message:
server not found.

Reboots do not fix this. I have never touched the host file. Disabling the
firewall do not fix this.

Advice?

ms

Are we supposed to play guessing games about which firewall you are using?

That error can be caused by a multitude of issues. From your description
it is obvious the registry got hosed. Question is why? Thus some questions;

Did your PC experience a crash prior to noticing the firewall missing?
Before loosing the firewall did it shutdown properly?
Did you have internet access even WITHOUT the firewall?
Does the local network work?
Have you tried disabling the firewall?
Have checked for malware, viruses etc?
Is your network wired or wireless?
etc. etc. etc.

one can go one and on with questions so it seems we will need much more of
the details from you!

Make sure that TCP/IP is correctly configured for your DNS server, most
ISPs will have you set this to "Obtain DNS server address
automatically", if not your ISP will provide you with their DNS server
address.  See here for more help:
http://www.support.psi.com/support/common/inet-serv/tcpip/2000/win2k_tcpip.html#dns

John

John John -MVP <audetweld@nbnot.nb.ca> wrote in


Thanks, John, a good link, bookmarked it. I will check the W2K TCP/IP
settings. If it changed, that is interesting.

The other post listed many issues, but in this case the only change was an
older registry- yet, that can have a lot of possibilities.

I am glad you answered, I have not been back here in 6 months, and there
seemed to be very little activity when I posted.

ms

You can also use ipconfig /all for information and the nslookup command
can also be quite useful.




I did not say anything about that but reverting to an old registry file
is seldom a very good idea.  Using anything older than a week or two is
usually more trouble than anything else!




Microsoft is closing their NNTP servers, they are abandoning newsgroups
in favour of web forums, by this fall their servers will be gone.  This
group was closed at the beginning of June (on their server) and many of
the regulars who were posting via the MS server have left when the group
closed.  I have set an account on another (non MS) newsgroups server to
keep an eye on the groups that still interest me, but without traffic
from the MS server the groups may just wither and die...

John

John John -MVP <audetweld@nbnot.nb.ca> wrote in


I disabled the firewall to be sure that is not causing the problem.

I have dialup. I read through the data from that link, and it seems to
primarily be how to first setup TCP/IP. In my case, it was all set up
before, now it still dials up normally, normal connection as before, run Fx
browser, but on any site, get the error "server does not find Google, etc".

Am I missing something in that article?
ns lookup: default server unknown, address 127.0.0.1 which I expected.

ipconfig/all: cannot find ipconfig ??
Your last comment was a surprise, as I have not looked at a newsgroup for 6
months. I did some browsing today, and the times are changing. In the past,
I remember the excellent help I got from you, Dave Patrick, Buffalo,
Pegasus, Ben, and others. I guess that is all history now. Some of us
ordinary mortals will be scrambling from now on.

I will look back later today, and try to browse the rest of the newsgroup
before it goes.

ms

That is your problem, your TCP/IP DNS setting is pointing to the local
host.  The nslookup command should point to either your router (if you
use one, which I do not think that you are using) or it should point to a
valid DNS server address.  Your modem will still work and you will still
be able to establish a connection to your ISP but you are getting these
Domain Name resolution.  Set the DNS setting to "Obtain DNS server
address automatically", if that does not work ask your ISP for their DNS
server address.  Or try a free public DNS server like Open DNS or
vnsc-pri.sys.gtei.net or even the Google DNS server.

Open DNS server addresses:

208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

Google DNS server addresses:

8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4

vnsc-pri.sys.gtei.net DNS addresses:

4.2.2.1
4.2.2.2
4.2.2.3
4.2.2.4
4.2.2.5
4.2.2.6

Note that your ISP's DNS server is usually the one nearest to you and
the fastest one available... but not always, sometimes folks get faster
Domain Name resolution when they try a different DNS server than the one
provided by the ISP.





You ran ipconfig /all while you were using nslookup in interactive mode,
for lack of a better explanation you were inside the nslookup console
and not at the Command prompt as such.  To exit the nslookup interactive
mode you have to type EXIT at the prompt, this returns you to the
Command Prompt proper.  Start a new command session and try the ipconfig
/all command again while at C:\> prompt.

John

John John -MVP <audetweld@nbnot.nb.ca> wrote in


Thanks and I will do the above tomorrow, everything is slower at my age.

This may be the last conversation I have with an expert, the way things are
going. If I may, a new subject.

Not W2K or even OS-related. I have a used XP machine, the CD drive only
reads audio CD's. It will not read my data CDs. It works OK for an audio
CD, but thats all. Its a Sony drive, AFAIK they never need unique driver
files, the OS default drivers usually work.

Any comment on this?

ms

Can the CDs be read in another machine?  Were you ever able to read the
CDs in the Sony drive?  Were the CDs written on the machine in question?
Were the CDs written with packet writting software, drag and drop
software like Nero's In-CD or Roxio's Direct CD or

(Oops... hit send too fast...)

Can the CDs be read in another machine?

Were you ever able to read the CDs in the Sony drive?

Were the CDs written on the machine in question?

Were the CDs written with packet writting software, drag and drop
software like Nero's In-CD or Roxio's Direct CD or Drag-to-Disc?

John

John John -MVP <audetweld@nbnot.nb.ca> wrote in


Yes, were created in another W2K machine, they can be read by W98 and my
other XP machine.


No, this came from a retired, newby couple, doubt they did it, but I doubt
HP built the machine that way.
No, on either my W2K or W98 machines, the CD's normally are
interchangeable.

No I use EasyIso, very reliable, from Dirk Pahel.

I ran a utility that verified the drive will only read/write audio files.
And all the CD's I write are saving utility and data files, even a few jpg
files.

I never tried an audio CD in this machine because I am not hooked with
speakers in this setup. Even if it does play audio CD's, it is no help, I
use data CD's to keep files updated between computers.

I have never seen this issue on another computer.

ms

John John -MVP <audetweld@nbnot.nb.ca> wrote in


I ran ipconfig/all:

Host name: XXXX my computer data

Primary DNS Suffix:  blank

Node Type:  Broadcast

IP Routing Enabled: No  ??

Winproxy Enabled: No  ??

Ethernet Adapter: disabled (I use DUN)

My DUN settings:

Internet protocol  TCP/IP properties

Obtain DNS server address automatically-  was selected

Obtain IP address automatically- was selected

Since it was not working, contacted my ISP, got their DNS address

Added that address, rebooted, still get "server not found".

??

ms

So you set DNS on the DUN connection like shown here:
http://ca.huji.ac.il/helpdesk/tshoot/dns.shtml ?

You say you can make a connection to your ISP?  Please establish a
connection then run the ipconfig /all command and post the unedited
results or the command.

John

John John -MVP <audetweld@nbnot.nb.ca> wrote in


When online, browser looking at a website, screen "server not found":

Host name: XXXX my computer data
Primary DNS Suffix:  blank
Node Type:  Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled: No
Winproxy Enabled: No  >
Ethernet Adapter: disabled (I use DUN)

Connection Specific- DNS Suffix
Description:  WAN (PPP/SLIP) interface
Physical Address:  00-53-45-00-00-00
DHCP Enabled: No
IP Address: 4.255.44.193
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway: 4.255.44.193
DNS Servers: 67.211.172.29
67.211.172.30
Netbios over TCP/IP: disabled

Yesterday, I added my ISP server address, do not see it above.

How to copy what I see in the command screen to clipboard?

ms

I would swap the drive with another known good one and see what happens.

John

Where does the

DNS Servers: 67.211.172.29
67.211.172.30

come from?  This should be the DNS server address from your ISP, you set
this in the Dial Up Connection's Properties.

Make sure that the DHCP Client service is set to Automatic startup type.
To access the Services Management Console enter services.msc in the
Start Menu Run box.

Also check Internet Options | Connections | LAN Settings and make sure
it is not set up to use a proxy server.




Enable Quick Edit, you can then select the text in the command console
with your left mouse button, and then right-click to copy to the
clipboard. To paste, either at the console or in a text file, right-click.

http://commandwindows.com/configure.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/commandpromptoptions.mspx?mfr=true

You can also redirect the output of commands to a text file with the use
of redirectors, example:

ipconfig /all >c:\test.txt

use double redirectors (>>) to append to a file:

ipconfig /all >>c:\test.txt

John

John John -MVP <audetweld@nbnot.nb.ca> wrote in

Thanks much for the help. This AM the machine did not boot normally, so
there are other issues. For me, nothing is as reliable as W98SE, it just
works.

ms

John John -MVP <audetweld@nbnot.nb.ca> wrote in


Thanks for the help, hope tomorrow to do as you advised, and will post
back.

ms

John John -MVP <audetweld@nbnot.nb.ca> wrote in


I do not know origin of 67....., it does not appear in any DUN screen, but
at that time I am looking at a website.

Added my ISP DNS address, unchecked automatic and selected manual, in DNS
screen, added DNS address, closed screen, dialed up, open browser, no luck.

Then checked DUN properties again, my changes were gone, default was back
to automatic

To access the Services Management Console enter services.msc in the
Start Menu Run box.

DHCP Client service was set to Automatic

it is not set up to use a proxy server.

I never set it to LAN, is now set to automatically detect- assume it will
see only the DUN

It was not set to proxy server.

Maybe no help, but I will again mention the change was internal to my
registry, I was offline, browsing was normal until I selected a (too old)
registry and rebooted. So this was not a malware change, or any new
program.

BTW, the audio CD issue on the XP machine, the computer is OK, and I will
take your advice and change the CD drive.

ms

As per your information below your connection is set to obtain the DNS
Server addresses automatically so you are being given the above server
addresses.

This is your your IP address:
http://cqcounter.com/whois/?query=4.255.44.193

And this is the DNS server that you (or your ISP) are using:
http://cqcounter.com/whois/?query=67.211.172.29

Possibly you might not be authorized to use these DNS severs.




These things do not change by themselves, possible causes:

1- You are not properly saving the changes.
2- Your firewall, AV program or other security applications is
preventing changes to the settings.
3- Malware is at play.

I would not only disable the firewall while troubleshooting this, I
would completely remove (uninstall it), network problems are often
caused by misbehaved firewalls.



Windows 2000 does not usually take too kindly to these kind of things!
You should forget your Windows 98 remedies when working with Windows
2000, swapping old registry files is usually left for last ditch efforts
and non booting installations, it might get an installation booted again
but the integrity of the operating system is often left compromised
beyond trust.  Rather than 'fixing' the firewall you figured that it was
easier to do a heart transplant on the operating system and it looks
like the patient is having post-op complications...

John

John John -MVP <audetweld@nbnot.nb.ca> wrote in


Good advice. Wish I had seen that comment about a year ago.
I will try your advice above, and report back in a few days, hope the ng is
still here. If nothing else works, the tech that built it  will fix it in
about a month.

ms

John John -MVP <audetweld@nbnot.nb.ca> wrote in

you
screen,
DNS
server
in
was
(too
things!

There are enough other problems with the install in this machine. I
had a thread here about a year ago, and the tech that had done the bad
install will be fixing it.

John, thanks alot for the help.

A shame that this very helpful source is about gone.

ms

You're welcome.


Yes, in my opinion the Microsoft "forums" are a real PITA!  Not to
mention that there are absolutely no forums for legacy products...

John