Changing DNS Settings in Windows XP

This article gives you the settings needed to manually assign DNS (Domain Name Service) servers for your Internet connection using Windows XP.

If you need the DNS settings for domain hosting you should read DNS settings for domain hosting

You can change your PC's default DNS (Domain Name Server) settings to specify a certain DNS server or IP address to use for a certain domain. There are two ways that you can do this:

Change the DNS
By doing this you tell your PC which DNS you want to use for all your surfing. Usually this is set to 'automatic' and we will give you the DNS. However, you can actually use any DNS settings you want.

Firstly, find out the IP address of the DNS to use. You can get this from your system administrator or ourselves.

If you have broadband

1. Click Start > Control Panel > Network Connections and select your local network.
   
2. On the General tab click Properties > Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
   
3. Click Properties
   

The Internet Protocol window will appear. Click Use the following DNS server addresses and enter the DNS server(s) you want to use. If you want to add more DNS servers click Advanced and then the DNS tab.

If you have dial-up

1. Click Start>My Computer>Dialup Networking.
   
2. Right-click on your Internet connection. Then select Properties.
   
3. Click the Server Types tab on the window which opens.
   
4. Click TCP/IP Settings.
   

Map IP addresses
You'll find this handy if you need to specify the location of a specific domain, without affecting your DNS preferences or any of your other online activities.

Find this file and open it in Notepad:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

At the end of this file type the IP address and domain you want to specify. Your browser will look at this file whenever it tries to access a domain. If it finds the domain here then the IP address listed against it will be used.

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