Windows · Windows Server · high · Networking & connectivity

Websites do not load but the IP address pings — DNS resolution failure

The network path is fine — name resolution is not. Everything that uses a name fails while everything that uses an address works.

What you see

ping 1.1.1.1 works, ping bbc.co.uk does not. Browsers show DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN or "can't find the server". Outlook and Teams fail at the same time, which makes it look like an internet outage.

What is actually wrong

The machine is pointed at a DNS server that is gone, unreachable or answering wrongly — often a domain controller's address left on a laptop that has been taken home, a stale entry in the local cache, or a hosts file edit somebody forgot about.

Codes and articles

DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAINERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVEDDNS_PROBE_FINISHED_BAD_CONFIG0x80072EE7DNS server isn't responding

Fixes (2)

Clear the resolver cache and the poisoned entries in it

Elevated PowerShell10 minuteslow riskreversible

Resolution works for some names and not others, or a name resolves to an address that was correct last week.

Look at what is actually cached before clearing it — this often names the culprit.

PowerShell

Get-DnsClientCache | Where-Object Entry -notlike '*.local' | Select-Object -First 30 Entry,Data,TimeToLive

Check the hosts file. An entry here beats DNS entirely and survives every cache flush.
PowerShell
```
Get-Content $env:WINDIR\System32\drivers\etc\hosts | Where-Object { $_ -notmatch '^\s*#' -and $_.Trim() }
```
Old testing entries and adware both live here, and nothing in the network stack will tell you they exist.

Flush and re-register.

PowerShell

Clear-DnsClientCacheipconfig /registerdns

Ask the configured server directly, then ask a public one, and compare.
PowerShell
```
Resolve-DnsName jbtecwiz.comResolve-DnsName jbtecwiz.com -Server 1.1.1.1
```

Confirm it workedBoth queries return the same address and browsing works.

PowerShell

Resolve-DnsName outlook.office365.com | Select-Object -First 3 Name,Type,IPAddress

If you need to undo itNone needed. If you removed a hosts entry, it was recorded above before deleting.

Point the machine at DNS servers it can actually reach

Elevated PowerShell10 minuteslow riskreversible

The configured servers do not answer at all — most often a domain laptop off the corporate network.

See what is set and where it came from.

PowerShell

Get-DnsClientServerAddress -AddressFamily IPv4 | Format-Table InterfaceAlias,ServerAddresses

Test each configured server before changing anything.
PowerShell
```
Test-NetConnection 10.0.0.10 -Port 53 -InformationLevel Detailed
```
If they came from a static entry that no longer applies, hand DNS back to DHCP.
PowerShell
```
Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias 'Wi-Fi' -ResetServerAddresses
```
Resetting is better than typing in a public resolver on a domain machine — a domain member that cannot resolve its own internal names loses Group Policy, shares and printers, which is a worse fault than the one being fixed.
On a non-domain machine with no working local resolver, set a public one deliberately.
PowerShell
```
Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias 'Wi-Fi' -ServerAddresses 1.1.1.1,8.8.8.8
```

Confirm it workedNames resolve and the internal ones still work if this is a domain machine.

PowerShell

Resolve-DnsName $env:USERDNSDOMAIN -Type SOA

If you need to undo itSet-DnsClientServerAddress with the original list recorded in step one, or -ResetServerAddresses to return to DHCP.

Related faults

Where this stops. This write-up was written and checked by hand. It says what each step changes, how to confirm it worked and how to reverse it, and anything destructive is flagged before you reach it. If it does not match what your machine is doing, search the Support Centre for the exact code or message — and when something needs a person, get in touch.