Windows – What to do if I can’t ping the DNS

Use a wired connection and boot into Safe Mode with Networking (tap F8 on startup for Advanced Boot Options, it will usually be the third option, after Repair Your Computer and Safe Mode).

This is an informative comparison point as Windows starts with only core drivers and services, and no third-party software.

If it works in safe mode with networking, it tells you there is something loading on normal boot that is interfering, which gives you two options.

1. Run Windows system restore and choose the latest known working date among the restore points (check if the restore point descriptions note anything unusual - anything besides "System scheduled checkpoint" could be informative). I would do this first, as it performs an entire registry rollback, and then go for the more granular option 2 if this fails.

2. Open msconfig and have a look at what services and programs are starting on a normal boot. In the services tab of msconfig, check "Hide all Microsoft services" at the bottom, then make a note of all remaining services and disable them. In the startup tab of msconfig, make a note of all the checked items and disable them. Reboot to normal mode. If everything works in normal mode after this, you need to go back into msconfig and selectively enable the important things, among these your security package. If it stops working after reenabling something and rebooting, you have found a culprit.

If it does not work in safe mode with networking, do option 1 above.

In my mind the primary suspects for the behavior you are describing would be malware, a hung security package or - possibly - a windows update gone bad. If you get it working, update your security package and do a full scan.

Your tracert to the IP address is utilizing a reverse DNS lookup, that is to say it is querying the DNS server for the name to match the IP you entered. (As opposed to a regular forward DNS lookup where your computer queries the DNS server for an IP based on the name you entered.)

If, as in your case, you're not getting responses for a forward DNS lookup, but ARE getting responses from a reverse DNS lookup, then the issue would most likely be that no A Record exists for that host on the DNS server.

However, since you are getting the correct name for the host when your computer performs a reverse DNS lookup, it is likely that a PTR Record for the IP address does exists on the DNS server.

For more information on this, I recommend checking out the Wikipedia page on DNS record types.