How to Fix Device or Resource (DNS server) is not Responding

"The device or resource-DNS server-is not responding." Every time you try to connect to a DNS server, this appears. It basically means your PC is unable to connect with the DNS server for converting the domain name into IP addresses. Most of the time, this is because of incorrect or faulty DNS server settings, an incorrectly configured network, or user error.

It seems that your computer is configured properly, but the DNS server is timing out and not responding.

Outdated or corrupted network drivers usually are the culprit, but other probable causes can be a misconfigured DNS cache or your antivirus application itself.

The DNS or proxy settings being misconfigured, having temporary issues with your modem or router, and other such issues cannot be ruled out either.

Let's have a look at some of the possible fixes for this problem.

1. Update New or Old Network Drivers

Since DNS issues generally occur with DNS servers, it mainly involves being considerate of the drivers that help your computer get connected to the internet. An update of such drivers is in order if they happen to be outdated or damaged so that you may have better connectivity with the DNS servers. If you suspect that such an update to your drivers is what's causing this, you can easily fix any compatibility problems by rolling back to an earlier version.

Type "devmgmt.msc" and press Window + R.

Run Hardware Manager

Include more information about "Network Adapters". From here, you can see all the network adapters currently configured in the computer.

1.1 Update the Driver:

Right click on the network adapter you want to uninstall and click on the "Uninstall device". It will remove the adapter and the device from the list.

Click "OK" when you are asked to confirm uninstalling it. Removing the driver software for your networking device

Go to the manufacturer's web site to get updated drivers for your operating system. Physically remove the adapter from your computer and download the driver file. Open the file from within your computer's Downloads folder.

To install the driver, follow the onscreen prompts. Do not connect an external adaptor, such as a Wi-Fi dongle, until instructed to do so. Restart your computer to find out if the problem has disappeared. Solution 

1.2 The Driver Spinning in Reverse:

Now, right click on the network adapter you want to disable and from the context menu select Properties. Open the Properties box and in the Driver tab, you will see an option available called Roll Back Driver.

This option would be grayed out if there are no backup files of the previous driver on the device, which can only be because it was not updated lately, in which case a new driver update probably is not the culprit.

Once a choice appears, select it, and then proceed on with instructions given. After that, restart the machine and then again turn on Command Prompt to see if the problem is still there.

2. Change Present DNS and IP Addresses

Improper settings of DNS may lead your device not to connect to the right DNS server; hence, internet issues will occur. To avoid any problems with the DNS server of your ISP, you can update manually to a good public DNS. Because the servers are all over the world and super-fast, updating will fix connectivity issues and make things even faster and more reliable. Set your IP settings to automatic in order for it to connect properly to your network and resolve all the conflicts for a smooth connection.

_via Win + R command prompt_

Type in "ncpa.cpl" and hit Enter.

From the Internet Connection window, double-click on your active network adapter to access the Properties window of your active network adapter. End.

Look among the list for an entry relating to the TCP/IPv4 and highlight it then click on the "Properties" button.Properties of IPv4

If the radio buttons under the "Obtain DNS server address automatically" and "Obtain IP address automatically" had previously been set to other options, you would have to check the General page and reset them to the correct ones. Reverting to factory defaults for IP and DNS

Just in case, to get an IP address automatically, click on the radio button saying "Use the following DNS server addresses," and proceed. Under Preferred DNS server, put 8.8.8.8 and Alternate DNS server as 8.8.4.4.

Put a checkmark in the box which says "Validate settings upon exit" and click OK to save changes. Once you have tried running the network troubleshooter, ensure that the problem still persists.

3. Renew Your IP Address and DNS Cache

By doing this, you will actually restart your network since you'll be flushing out the DNS cache and renewing IP settings. Sometimes, the corruption of DNS cache prevents proper connections due to wrong or outdated IP addresses. These usually get fixed once you flush it out, and your computer requests updated DNS information from the server.

Search for Command Prompt in the box, and run it as an Administrator.

Type the following commands one by one, and after typing each, press Enter. You will know it worked if you see the "Operation completed successfully" notice. You are able to flush DNS from the ipconfig file. release in ipconfig ipconfig/release6 or ipconfig/renew

Try reconnecting to the Internet to see if the problem has disappeared.

Undoubtedly, these steps will help you out in removing the error "The device or resource (DNS server) is not responding" and bring your Internet back online.