"The server does not have a DNS entry": what it means and how to fix it

This is a common error message seen often in Netscape Navigator:

  Netscape is unable to locate the server: www.whatever.com
  The server does not have a DNS entry.  Check the server name
  in the Location (URL) and try again.

"DNS" refers to the way that your computer tries to look up the name of a server to find its numeric IP address so it can connect to the server. It's similar to looking a phone number up in a telephone book when you want to call someone on the phone.

There are several possible causes of this problem. Here are the most common reasons:

If you always get this error when you try to connect to a web site: (that is, if you have never been able to connect to any web sites with this installation of Netscape Navigator)

• If you connect to the Internet by dialing in to a service provider, maybe you forgot to set up that connection (your computer hasn't dialed in yet). Make sure that you've established a connection with your modem and your dialer software.
• Your computer's TCP/IP networking software might not be set up properly. Check with your network administrators to find out exactly what numbers you should be using in your computer's networking configuration. Specifically, this usually means that you don't have the right names or numbers entered into the "domain name servers" section of your computer's networking configuration. (This is something which can only be fixed in your computer's networking software configuration, not in Netscape Navigator.)
• You might be behind a firewall which doesn't allow you to connect to some web servers. (This is often the case if you're trying to connect to web sites from a computer at your business.) Contact your local network administrators to see if this is the case and to find out what to do about it.

If the problem occurs intermittently: (that is, if you are usually able to connect to web sites, but you sometimes see this error with some web sites)

• You may have mistyped the URL, or maybe the web server you're trying to connect to is down or isn't working properly. Check with the people you got the URL from to make sure you've got the right URL and that the server is up.
• Your network may have had a momentary problem. Try entering the same URL again; it might work this time. Also, try connecting during less-busy hours of the day, such as in the early morning. If this is an intermittent problem (sometimes you can connect but sometimes you can't), ask your network administrators for help looking into it.

If you get this error as soon as you try to read mail or news:

• The names of your mail and news servers as you specified them in your Netscape Preferences are probably incorrect, read our tech support page on setting up mail and news preferences.