Slow internet - Resolving Host

[LMITOUT]

I've got an older laptop running Windows 7 that has become terribly slow at opening websites. I use Chrome as my browser and the status bar at the bottom shows "resolving host" every time I load a page. Using IE 11 is also slow.

I've ran malwarebytes and Spybot S&D but they find nothing.

Windows is up to date.

Shutting off the anti-virus doesn't help.

I've also changed the DNS from automatic to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 but it does not make any difference in speed.

The cache and history has been wiped from the browser, but since it is happening with IE as well I don't think it's as much of a browser problem as it is a Windows problems.

I've also connected the laptop directly to the router with a cable and turned off the laptop's wi-fi adapter and it is still slow.

My destop PC connected to the same router does not exhibit any slowness at all so I am confident the ISP+modem+router are not the culprits.

What's next?

[upnorth]

If you open up a command window and key in nslookup yahoo.com does there seem to be a delay? Id I just did it on my my W7 laptop and the response we within a second or two. Just for grins and giggle go into Internet settings and then connections and check your LAN settings to be sure there is no proxy set.

C:\Users\Scott>nslookup yahoo.com

Server: UnKnown

Address: 192.168.0.1

Non-authoritative answer:

Name: yahoo.com

Addresses: 206.190.36.45

98.139.183.24

98.138.253.109

C:\Users\Scott>

[LMITOUT]

If you open up a command window and key in nslookup yahoo.com does there seem to be a delay?

[upnorth]

from the same command window you can ping yahoo.com or similar and compare the ms with your other device, is is the time to reply.

IE 11 sux real bad on loading some pages. Chrome can get hosed up. You could try firefox or opera and see what you get. Might need to un install and re install chrome. I would also consider rolling IE 11 back to a previous version.

[LMITOUT]

I don't use IE but just tried it as a comparison. With both browsers being slow to load I figured I could rule out it being a browser problem.

[MN Shutterbug]

Format C:

[aanderud]

I had the same thing recently. Try this and see if it helps.

Disable IPv6 (next generation IP addressing that I've never actually needed, and most people probably don't) on your wifi adapter (or ethernet adapter if that's what you're using). To do so, go to network adapters, right click on the one you want, go to properties, then uncheck "Internet Protocol Version 6"

I'd never have guessed that was the issue but this guy disables / enables / disables / enables it several times on the video to show that it's truly the culprit on his PC (and it was on mine):

[LMITOUT]

Unfortunately I've disabled that quite a while ago and again verified that it was still disabled.

[LMITOUT]

I think I found my fix:

Quote:

Let's flush the DNS cache and restore MS's Hosts file. Copy and paste these lines in Note pad.

@Echo on

pushd\windows\system32\drivers\etc

attrib -h -s -r hosts

echo 127.0.0.1 localhost>HOSTS

attrib +r +h +s hosts

popd

ipconfig /release

ipconfig /renew

ipconfig /flushdns

netsh winsock reset all

netsh int ip reset all

shutdown -r -t 1

del %0

Save as flush.bat to your desktop.

Right click the .bat file and choose to Run as Administrator. Your computer will reboot itself. See if that fixes it.

I ran this batch file and no more "resolving host"!

Now I can go to bed.

[LMITOUT]

This laptop is flying again.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I hope that the batch file above will be of some help to others in the future. It made a dramatic difference in the performance.

[Big Dave2]

This laptop is flying again.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I hope that the batch file above will be of some help to others in the future. It made a dramatic difference in the performance.

Is this something that would only happen on an older computer that has been used for a while? Is it something you would need to do repeatedly over time or only once?

[upnorth]

Well there is always a chance that the DNS lookup cache can go corrupt and also not flush out. It normally has a pretty short life span. But if something sticks flushing it helps. That batch file that he ran did a bit more than just flush the DNS tho. It reset the entire TCP/IP stack. May not have had to do the entire resest, but as per his results it works.

[LMITOUT]

Early in the day yesterday when trying to fix the laptop I did a flushdns but it didn't improve anything. I have to wonder if restoring the Hosts file was the solution.

[upnorth]

For the most part your hosts file shouldn't contain anything. What is in there is a mostly an explanation. But windows and any OS for that matter will look to the hosts file before hitting a DNS server. Historically DNS was originally a replicated hosts file, and yes that is waaaaaayyyy back there.