This article will tell you about how to find primary DNS and secondary DNS on your computer, irrespective of the computer operating system you use.
DNS stands for Domain Name System, and it is a direct referral to a computer, or a web server, that transforms domain names of other computers into their IP addresses and vice-versa. What this means is that when we visit websites on the Internet, we can type the URL (or the domain name) of the website, instead of the IP address.
This makes it easier for us to remember the names of the websites that we visit, and it also becomes easy to classify the website in categories and get a brief idea about the content that is present on the website.
Every computer that connects to the Internet has a primary DNS and a secondary DNS, and here we will tell you about how to find these values on the computer that you use. These values are usually provided by the ISP (Internet Service Provider).
The Process
If you are looking for the primary DNS on Windows 7 or any other Windows operating system then there are two methods for you to achieve this. The first method is as follows.
- Go to the Start menu.
- Click on My Network Places.
- Click on View Network Connections.
- Right-click on Local Area Connection.
- Click on Properties.
- Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
- Click on the Properties tab.
- The values in the Preferred DNS Server box is what your primary DNS is.
- Your secondary DNS is the value in the Alternate DNS Server box.
The other method is to use the Run command that is present on every Windows based machine by default and it is as follows.
- Go to the Start menu.
- Click on the Run button.
- Type ‘cmd’ in the text box and press Enter.
- Type ‘ipconfig/all’ in the Command Prompt window and press Enter.
- You will find your primary and secondary DNS in the resulting information.
If you are having Mac, the process is quite different and is explained as follows:
- Go to the Apple Menu.
- Go to System Preferences.
- Select Network.
- Double-clink on Ethernet (or Wireless or Dial-up if you are using any of these Internet connections).
- You will now see your primary and secondary DNS in front of you.
The secondary DNS on each machine is just a backup, in case the primary fails or stops performing for some other reason. This information will also help you when you connect your video game console to the Internet via a wireless router or an Ethernet cable.
You will need to enter the DNS server for the network on which you are connected. This information will be provided by the game console manufacturer.
Most Internet Service Providers give you the DNS automatically, so you do not have to enter any information yourself.