Help - Clearing Host Cache On XP

[Odin88]

I can't seem to work out how to clear my cache of "hosts". I moved to a new host, and I am trying to do some stuff on one of the domains, and although the nameserves have changed, my computer has cached the old IP.

I am on XP Home, and I changed some stuff in "host" file located in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc to try and fix it, rebooted and it still won't work. Any help would be much appreciated.

[KobyBoy]

You shouldn't need to reboot or do anything special after you modify your hosts file. Windows should re-read it after it has changed. If you want to get a new IP you could try typing "ipconfig /refresh" at the command prompt. I don't have my Windoze box powered up but I think that's the correct switch to use. You can type "ipconfig" or "ipconfig /help" to see additional switches that might help you.

[BoNgHiTtA]

You sure its not your ISP cacheing the old domains?

[Ben-MensNiche]

You got static IP? If you've got dynamic IP (DHCP) then release and renew your IP address. Try that Instructions -> [Open a command window and type "ipconfig /release" <enter> and then "ipconfig /renew" <enter>]

Next step is to ping the domain name from the command prompt and see if it resolves correctly.

If PING resolves correctly, then it's your internet explorer cache that's causing the problem.

If PING resolves incorrectly, then either your hosts file (correct location %sysdir%\drivers\etc\hosts - where %sysdir% is likely either c:\winnt\system32 or c:\windows\system32) is configured incorrectly, or your DNS server is resolving the domain names incorrectly.

If PING resolves incorrectly and your hosts file is configured correctly, then it's an issue with the cache on your DNS server. If you have your own DNS server, backup the current configuration and open up DNS manager and clear the cache by right clicking on the domain name in the forward lookup zones and selecting "clear cache". Restart the DNS services. If you don't host your own DNS server, then consult with your internet service provider or whoever you are using for DNS resolution.

If after all that it still doesn't work, then I don't know what's wrong.

[KobyBoy]

"ipconfig /refresh" is for refreshing DNS information; my bad. Go with what Ben-MensNiche said: try "ipconfig /release" and then "ipconfig /renew". That will release your IP address and obtain a new one from the DHCP server (if your setup involves a DHCP server).

[Odin88]

Thanks to everyone that gave me help, I have fixed it up now and can finally get to work. Btw, thanks especially to Ben from Mensniche and Koby - the ipconfig /release" and then "ipconfig /renew" fixed it.

[johnbosh]

format c:\q\u