Hello ! What is the default host name to IP address resolutions order used by Microsoft Windows 2000 professional clients ? And how can I change this host name resolutions order in Windows 2000 professional, so that it first looks in local system cache then Hosts file then DNS Server for name resolution. I will be thankful for your helpful reply. Farhan

This can get a bit complicated. The first place it sends the name query is to DNS. If DNS resolves it, then obviously it's done. If DNS fails, it will check to see if the name is longer than 15 bytes. If it is, then resolution will fail. If it is shorter than 15 bytes, it will assume the name is a NetBios name and check to see if NetBios is running. If so, it will try using NetBios name resolution. The order depends on the node type if IP. It depends on the name and the utility used. For example, if you try a NET USE command which is a NetBios utility, it will use the NetBios name cache first. If B Node or Broadcast node type is being used, after the name cache, a broadcast is done to resolve the name, followed by looking at lmhost file, then host file, then DNS. It's a bit much to explain here since it also depends if you are in a domain environment and what options you have selected in the Properties of TCP/IP. For example, you can specify that clients append the domain name to the computer name. It would be a bit of reading but you might consider checking this out... http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/howitworks/communications/nameadrmgmt/w2kdns.asp Good luck.