Microsoft KB Archive/320845

= Cannot Resolve Host Name to IP Address After You Replace the Hosts File =

Article ID: 320845

Article Last Modified on 2/28/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition

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This article was previously published under Q320845



SYMPTOMS
When you try to resolve a new host name entry in the Windows 2000 Hosts file to the corresponding IP address, you may be unsuccessful.

When you use the Ping.exe utility to try to confirm connectivity to the host, you may receive the following message, where  is the name of the host with which you try to connect:

Unknown host .

When you &quot;ping&quot; the IP address of the host, you are successful and you receive the echo response that you expect.



CAUSE
This behavior may occur when the following conditions are true:
 * You create a host entry in a copy of the Hosts file or in a new Hosts file.

-and-
 * You copy that Hosts file to the original folder, overwriting the original Hosts file.

NOTE: By default, the Windows 2000 Hosts file is stored in the following location:

%Systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc



RESOLUTION
To work around this issue, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Flush the DNS Resolver Cache
After you replace the Hosts file, or copy a new Hosts file into the %Systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc folder, flush the DNS Resolver cache. To do so, follow these steps:  Click Start, click Run, type cmd in the Open box, and then click OK. At the command prompt, type ipconfig /flushdns, and then press ENTER. You receive the following message:

Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.

 Type exit, and then press ENTER to close the command prompt.

Method 2: Restart the Computer
After you replace the Hosts file or copy a new Hosts file into the %Systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc directory, restart the computer.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.



MORE INFORMATION
For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

223413 Options for Ipconfig.exe in Windows 2000

Keywords: kbprb KB320845

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