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[9fingers]

Thanks for that Jeff.
My DNS problem is intermittent and only with UK workshop.
Some months ago it got really bad and repeated attempts failed. Now if it fails a second attempt succeeds. This happened about 4 times yesterday- about 10-15% of UKW accesses.

So far this morning, it is OK

Bob

 

[Dibs-h]

Bob

Assuming UKW is on a static IP and you are not using a MAC ('cos I don't know how you do it for MACs) why not put a "hard" entry in your windows hosts file - that way it always knows what the ukworkshop address is?

HIH

Dibs.

 

[9fingers]

Bob

Assuming UKW is on a static IP and you are not using a MAC ('cos I don't know how you do it for MACs) why not put a "hard" entry in your windows hosts file - that way it always knows what the ukworkshop address is?

HIH

Dibs.

That sounds interesting but totally new ground for me. I'm running XP home and browser is SeaMonkey2
I have found my hosts file with (help from wikipedia)
It seems to have a long list of urls all with IP 127.0.0.1 set by spybot search and destroy.
like this

127.0.0.1 localhost
# Start of entries inserted by Spybot - Search & Destroy
127.0.0.1 www.007guard.com
127.0.0.1 007guard.com
127.0.0.1 008i.com
127.0.0.1 www.008k.com
.
..
. very long list
.
.
127.0.0.1 www.zxlinks.com
127.0.0.1 zxlinks.com
127.0.0.1 zyban-zocor-levitra.com
# This list is Copyright 2000-2008 Safer Networking Limited
# End of entries inserted by Spybot - Search & Destroy



I presume these are blocked addresses rather than wanted ones or perhaps a reference list that spybot uses in some way?


I presume I should back up this file to start with and edit into a new copy (at the top and not in the spybot list??) something for UKW

like this(?)

nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn www.ukworkshop.co.uk

Question is what is the ip address for UKW please.


Thanks for your help Dibs and sorry if my question is a dumb one but that sums me up when it comes to the internals of operating systems

Bob

 

[wizer]

Question is what is the ip address for UKW please.

92.48.118.217

 

[9fingers]

Thanks Tom.

Do you know about system host files? Do i edit it with notepad and just add a line with that IP addy?

TIA

Bob

 

[wizer]

Yeh that's is. I think what Dibs is saying is that by putting that in the host file, windows doesn't have to resolve the ip address every time. It's a long shot IMO.

 

[jlawrence]

If it is a DNS resolution problem then putting it in your hosts file could well fix it.
The ttl for ukworkshop.co.uk is only 60 seconds so it doesn't get cached for long on your system - so the hosts file will (should) stop successive dns lookup failures.
You will need to keep an eye out for if the IP of the server changes though (which likely won't happen often if ever).

Jon

 

[9fingers]

Thanks Dibs, Jon and Tom.

With much fear and trepidation I backed up the host file, edited a copy with just a comment line, re-booted, looked up UKW and the lookup failed first time and succeeded second time.
File type was originally 'file' and is now 'text document' but has no file extension.

I then edited the host file again adding the IP addy and url and re-booted again. UKW lookup worked first time.

Not a totally scientific or statistically valid test but at least it seems I have not killed anything -so far!

I hate tinkering with things I don't understand!

Thanks guys

Bob

 

[Dibs-h]

Bob

Assuming UKW is on a static IP and you are not using a MAC ('cos I don't know how you do it for MACs) why not put a "hard" entry in your windows hosts file - that way it always knows what the ukworkshop address is?

HIH

Dibs.

That sounds interesting but totally new ground for me. I'm running XP home and browser is SeaMonkey2
I have found my hosts file with (help from wikipedia)
It seems to have a long list of urls all with IP 127.0.0.1 set by spybot search and destroy.
like this

127.0.0.1 localhost
# Start of entries inserted by Spybot - Search & Destroy
127.0.0.1 www.007guard.com
127.0.0.1 007guard.com
127.0.0.1 008i.com
127.0.0.1 www.008k.com
.
..
. very long list
.
.
127.0.0.1 www.zxlinks.com
127.0.0.1 zxlinks.com
127.0.0.1 zyban-zocor-levitra.com
# This list is Copyright 2000-2008 Safer Networking Limited
# End of entries inserted by Spybot - Search & Destroy



I presume these are blocked addresses rather than wanted ones or perhaps a reference list that spybot uses in some way?


I presume I should back up this file to start with and edit into a new copy (at the top and not in the spybot list??) something for UKW

like this(?)

nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn www.ukworkshop.co.uk

Question is what is the ip address for UKW please.


Thanks for your help Dibs and sorry if my question is a dumb one but that sums me up when it comes to the internals of operating systems

Bob

That's it Bob - just add the line as you proposed in your post. You may need to reboot the server.

A quick test would be to open a Cmd Prompt - [Start - Run, type CMD & hit enter] and type the following

ping www.ukworkshop.co.uk

followed by Enter. You can do this before you add the entry to confirm what the IP address is and then do it again if your browser doesn't go anywhere - i.e. page not found.

This will confirm that the IP address is up, 2nd option would be that the site has changed it's IP address (I'm sure Charley could comment on whether the site has a static one - I would have thought so, but you never know). In which case you need to change the IP address associated with the entry in the hosts file.

The following link will give you the IP address if you want to check

http://www.mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx ... shop.co.uk

It lists the nameservers for UKworkshop - shows them to be pointing to Charley own nameservers - which suggest to me that the site is on a static address. I could be wrong - but I would suggest you make the entry and if it all goes weird - just put a hash infront of it or remove it. It will have no affect on anything other than you looking at this site.

 

[TobyT]

Thanks Dibs, Jon and Tom.

With much fear and trepidation I backed up the host file, edited a copy with just a comment line, re-booted, looked up UKW and the lookup failed first time and succeeded second time.
File type was originally 'file' and is now 'text document' but has no file extension.

I then edited the host file again adding the IP addy and url and re-booted again. UKW lookup worked first time.

Not a totally scientific or statistically valid test but at least it seems I have not killed anything -so far!

I hate tinkering with things I don't understand!

Thanks guys

Bob

I suspect you have worked it out from the wikipedia page but the hosts file is your local variant of DNS (Domain Name System). This is checked first and then the DNS servers for a name lookup. Using this you can theoretically use any name to refer to the IP address, instead of the full name. So you could shorten ukworkshop.co.uk to ukw. I find Bookmarks easier though. I would argue that using the hosts file works but it is preferable to use something like OpenDNS, or get your ISP to fix their's. Otherwise, if the ukw IP changes you have to change the hosts file, and of course you have to add an entry for each failing website.

The 127.0.0.1 is the loopback address. This is always recognised as belonging to the local computer. What spybot seems to have done is put in a list of dodgy sites and so if you, or a rogue program, tries to contact that site you just contact your local computer. If you run a webserver it will return that website, otherwise just a blank page.

The convention for configuration files is that a blank space is a field delimiter and the hash (or pound sign for those on the other side of the pond) denotes that anything after it is a comment. So a quick way to temporarily remove a line or variable from processing is to put a hash in front of it.

I assume you have the option "Hide Extensions for known file types" turned off (Windows Explorer->Tools->Folder Options->View tab). The hosts file shouldn't be shown as a file of type text. It maybe because files with no extension may now be associated with notepad, which is OK, or it could be that it has now been saved with a hidden extension of .txt, which means it won't work.

 

[9fingers]

Toby,
your post was really helpful.

I have now turned on the file extensions and see that my modified hosts file is in fact hosts.txt

Furthermore I have had a case of dns failure since making the modification.
So as you say, the hosts.txt file is not being read.

Question. How do i remove the .txt extension? I tried file re-name and it comes up with a warning about unstable file names. Is it safe to do it this way or is there a 'stable ' way?

TIA

Bob

 

[Dibs-h]

Toby,
your post was really helpful.

I have now turned on the file extensions and see that my modified hosts file is in fact hosts.txt

Furthermore I have had a case of dns failure since making the modification.
So as you say, the hosts.txt file is not being read.

Question. How do i remove the .txt extension? I tried file re-name and it comes up with a warning about unstable file names. Is it safe to do it this way or is there a 'stable ' way?

TIA

Bob

Just highlight the file - press F2, type your new name with no extension and ignore whatever jibberish it comes out with. It's just down to windows expecting file extensions on the whole & not realising that there are little parts of it that still have files that don't use extensions.

Dibs

p.s. You have a backup anyway.

 

[9fingers]

Thanks Dibs,

I have done just that, re-booted and wait to see how it goes.

Cheers

Bob

 

[Dibs-h]

Thanks Dibs,

I have done just that, re-booted and wait to see how it goes.

Cheers

Bob

Hello! Anyone there? How did it go Bob? :wink:

 

[9fingers]

So far so good. No DNS failures on UKW but to be fair I have not been doing much on the forum.
I've been IMing with a friend trying to sort out her tax return. Silly girl has left it very late!!

Bob

 

[xy mosian]

As I thought, and just checked on my XP system. The 'hosts' file has the 'Read Only' attribute. It may be that your changes are not actually stored. It would be worth opening up the file to check.

xy

 

[9fingers]

As I thought, and just checked on my XP system. The 'hosts' file has the 'Read Only' attribute. It may be that your changes are not actually stored. It would be worth opening up the file to check.

xy

I've just checked the file and the UKW entry seems to be there. Also I had to re-specify notepad as the application to open with so it does seem to have lost the association with the .txt extension.

I guess as the original problem was intermittent, I'll just have to keep accessing the forum as often as possible to make an assessment on the viability of the fix.

Bob

 

[Dibs-h]

So far so good. No DNS failures on UKW but to be fair I have not been doing much on the forum.
I've been IMing with a friend trying to sort out her tax return. Silly girl has left it very late!!

Bob

Cool.

if you have any probs - just open the file with Notepad and put a hash infront of the entry, then save over itself and it should be ok.

Although I think you wil be ok as I suspect the site is on a static IP - i.e. hardly ever changes.

Tax - just got all my accounts\returns sorted out and filed yesterday. Last yr was the first time doing them and they took ages - this yr took a few hours and my tame accountant (chum) gave them the once over.

 

[9fingers]

So far so good. No DNS failures on UKW but to be fair I have not been doing much on the forum.
I've been IMing with a friend trying to sort out her tax return. Silly girl has left it very late!!

Bob

Cool.

if you have any probs - just open the file with Notepad and put a hash infront of the entry, then save over itself and it should be ok.

Although I think you wil be ok as I suspect the site is on a static IP - i.e. hardly ever changes.

Tax - just got all my accounts\returns sorted out and filed yesterday. Last yr was the first time doing them and they took ages - this yr took a few hours and my tame accountant (chum) gave them the once over.

I got my tax down to a fine art when I was in employment and had part time self employment with capital allowances for my machinery.
Most years I got a rebate back on my PAYE!!

Now I've retired, the self employment sideline has reduced to almost nothing and the machines have been mainly written off.
Over the years my free time has turning into tax free machine tools

If I can keep any problems down to the magnitude of DNS look-up bugs I'll be doing OK.


Thanks to everyone who has chipped in today!!

Bob

 

[xy mosian]

Keep plugging away

xy