How to Flush DNS

The Domain Name System (DNS) is how the Internet manages and stores domain names into IP addresses. Ocassionally a systems "cache" of DNS addresses becomes corrupt. It therefore, becomes necessary to clean up your systems' DNS cache. This is known as "flushing DNS".

To flush your DNS cache in WINDOWS simply perform the following steps:

1. Open command prompt window. (Start/Program Files/Accessories/Command Prompt) OR (Start -> Run -> type cmd)
2. Enter "ipconfig /flush dns" at the command prompt.(C: >)

A confirmation window should then appear confirming a successful flush.

Example:
C:Documents and SettingsJohn>ipconfig /flushdns
Windows IP Configuration
Successfully flushed the DNS resolver Cache.
The screen will then return to the initial command string:
C:Documents and SettingsJohn>

To flush your DNS cache in LINUX simply perform the following steps:

* Restart the nscd daemon: Enter "etc/rc.d/init.d/nscd restart" in your command terminal
Once you run this command in linux, your DNS cache will be flushed.

To flush your DNS cache in Mac OS X simply perform the following steps:

* Enter "lookupd -flushcache" in your command terminal
Once this command is run in Mac OS X, your DNS cache will be flushed.