Nslookup works but ping fails

QUESTION

On my Windows XP workstation, I can find the machine I want to connect to in DNS with nslookup:

nslookup wolfman
Server: dns.company.com
Address: 192.168.1.38

Name: wolfman.company.com
Address: 192.168.1.178

On my Windows XP workstation, I can find the machine I want to connect to in DNS with nslookup:

nslookup wolfman
Server: dns.company.com
Address: 192.168.1.38
Name: wolfman.company.com
Address: 192.168.1.178

But, when I try to connect to that machine, I get an error telling me that the machine can’t be found (i.e., can’t be looked up in DNS):

1 2	C:\> ping wolfman Ping request could not find host wolfman. Please check the name and try again.

I am able to connect if I use the IP address directly:

C:\> ping 192.168.1.178

Pinging 192.168.1.178 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.1.178: bytes=32 time=41ms TTL=126
Reply from 192.168.1.178: bytes=32 time=41ms TTL=126
Reply from 192.168.1.178: bytes=32 time=44ms TTL=126
Reply from 192.168.1.178: bytes=32 time=38ms TTL=126

ANSWER 1

I believe that nslookup opens a winsock connection on the DNS port and issues a query, whereas ping uses the DNS Client service. You could try and stop this service and see whether this makes a difference.

Some commands that will reinitialize various network states :

Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults : netsh winsock reset catalog
Reset TCP/IP stack to installation defaults : netsh int ip reset reset.log
Flush DNS resolver cache : ipconfig /flushdns
Renew DNS client registration and refresh DHCP leases : ipconfig /registerdns
Flush routing table : route /f (this will remove all your gateways until you restart!)

ANSWER 2

Try ping with hostname followed by a dot. So instead of ping wolfman use ping wolfman.

That should get you resolving without having to do workarounds with hosts file, etc.