DNS Caching

[RetiredHal]

Hi,
I have some questions regarding DNS caching.
Recently I had problems getting on to a site (forum) that I frequently visit.
Typically there would be no response  from the site and an eventual 404 error.
If I tried the site a bit later or if I tried again after a power off/on or restart I was able to access the site.(usually)
Searching the internet I came across DNS cache settings in HKLM|System|CurrentControlSet|Services|DNSCache|Parameters
I run Windows XP  SP2 on a desktop and Windows Vista Home Premium SP1.on my laptop.
Both entries had a String value pointing to Windows|System32|dnsrslvr.dll.

Using a Hex editor I tried to make sense of what was “english” in the dll, but I readily admit that it did not make much sense to me

Inserting a value of Zero in MaxcacheTtl, MaxNegativeCacheTtl,NegativeSOACacheTime and NetFailureCacheTime, I feel that my “access time to the Site (and other sites) has improved, although it is hard to quantify.
The internet  does offer explanations, but I am still confused.

Q1, which set of doublewords belong to which version of windows?
Q2, If it does in fact improve “Hit Rate” why is it not standard practice to reduce the default settings?
Q3 What am I  trading off when I reduce the default settings ?
Q4. Can I , and Where in the dll file would I edit to play with values?

Thanks

[worker201]

Spam?

[RetiredHal]

Spam?

NO, it is not spam.
It is a genuine question. I found this forum through Hero999 on another forum. If you dont like the question tell me why!
The fact that I may not know as much  about windows as you, or that I am not a programmer and  that I am basically an end user should not stop me from asking a question, (however stupid the question may seem to you).

[davidnix71]

The simple answer is that this is not a Windows help forum. Bill G makes lots of money selling his product. If it doesn't work for you, you should demand MS give you your money back or fix it. Why should we do charity work for billionaire who is to lazy or corrupt to produce a quality product and stand behind his work?

[RetiredHal]

The simple answer is that this is not a Windows help forum. Bill G makes lots of money selling his product. If it doesn't work for you, you should demand MS give you your money back or fix it. Why should we do charity work for billionaire who is to lazy or corrupt to produce a quality product and stand behind his work?

Thank You Davidnix71 for your reply.

I fully understand that this is not a MS  forum.  My decision to ask the question here is because after two days of enjoyable reading of different threads on this forum, I realised that despite the fiery  word exchanges, there are some very talented  and knowledgeable people here.

I posted in a thread that indicated that you might help if in trouble with a computer.

I have a feeling that if I had not mentioned windows and just asked about DNS zone entries, your response would have been different.

My questions (apart from the dll and  windows versions) really relate to dns /resolver architecture, and they are the same (I think ) for Linux,Unix or Windows.

The fact that I am a windows user is not because I like Mr Gates or windows.  I use windows like the other 95% of users because Linux  is not user friendly to an end user, my kids could not play the games they liked, they could not use messenger, Dual Boot (Grub I think) is a pain, I could not get my printer or  scanner to run  and when I  asked for advice when I had Ubuntu I was made to feel like a pariah because I had no programming skills.  That was 2 years ago, perhaps things  have changed and I may try Linux again  sometime.
The only thing that worked well was Gimp. Luckily, Gimp works equally well on Windows.

The last on my mind was to ask for Charity Work.

[Lead Head]

Linux has improved VASTLY in the past two years. GAIM (Now Pidgin) easily works with AIM/Yahoo/MSN/IRC, driver support is vastly better now (I was able to easily get a driver for my printer, and I did not have to do anything special to do it. WINE (allows you to run windows applications) is far more compatible with applications now then it was two years ago. The Ubuntu forums are also great for getting advice on how to set things up with easy to follow guides.

While I can't speak for everyone, I personally do not have much knowledge of the inner workings of Windows, or even *Nix for that matter , and this tends to be a more *Nix/OSX based site in terms of knowledge. Our Windows guru has not been around in a long time.

Anyways though, a lot has changed in the Open Source software world, and I suggest you give the latest version of Ubuntu a try, it even has a Live CD so it will run off the CD without actually installing so you can mess around with it. There are now even versions of Ubuntu that run within windows just like a normal application, that way you can play around and experiment without having to make system changes.

http://wubi-installer.org/

[davidnix71]

I have more trouble now getting to sites than a year ago. I think the economic slowdown has led to cutbacks on the web, just like everywhere else. Sometimes I just have to go away and come back later. Timing out looking up an IP probably means your ISP is slacking or oversubscribing.

You might try OpenDNS and see if their servers are faster. It's free.

http://www.opendns.com/

[worker201]

Spam?

NO, it is not spam.
It is a genuine question. I found this forum through Hero999 on another forum. If you dont like the question tell me why!
The fact that I may not know as much  about windows as you, or that I am not a programmer and  that I am basically an end user should not stop me from asking a question, (however stupid the question may seem to you).

It's not a stupid question.  It's the type of question that you should be asking at http://www.microsoft.com/communities/forums/default.mspx  If I really thought it was spam, I would have deleted it.

Just to reiterate, this is not a Microsoft help forum.  The best way to fix any problem in Windows is by formatting your hard drive and installing something else.  If you want advice on getting rid of Windows, or help getting started with a Microsoft replacement, then we can help you out.

[RetiredHal]

Geez Worker,
You're a hard man to please , First you tell me where to get help

....It's the type of question that you should be asking at http://www.microsoft.com/communities/forums/default.mspx ....

and then you tell me to wipe my Windows.

...The best way to fix any problem in Windows is by formatting your hard drive and installing something else...

I think your point is made --- I posted in the wrong forum in good faith …My mistake!   So please delete this whole post/thread.  There are no answers so it is just a waste of storage.

[davidnix71]

HAL, Windows is proprietary, closed source code. That's perfectly legal, but it makes it difficult to diagnose some problems and give a decent answer. Linux is open to review.

You kind of answered your own question in the first post. Decompiling a dll in hexedit or notepad doesn't work very well. Without having the source code, which MS will never provide, we can't really help you well.