I have several family computers running windows 7-64bit, comodo firewall with Plus and sandbox, Avast AV, Spybot S&D with and without T-timer, Windows defender etc
The only difference with t his one is that I selected Comodo DNS server
upon internet access with either Firefox or Explorer
I get a message “looking up…”
If I click on the HOSTMAN HOSTS button I get
“Another program is using the Hosts file” and I cannot access to disable
eventually whatever it is times out and system works normally until shutdown or sleep whence we go through this minutes long exercise again.
ever happen before?
How do I return to other hosts file for a test?
If I uninstall and reinstall Comodo Firewall Plus will my default DNS server be restored or would I be dead in the water?
I have toggled all the other programs on and off without nailing this critter
The hosts file gets protected by CIS as it is in the system32 folder. That’s why Hostman cannot access it. I assume Hostman is an application to edit the hosts file.
That problem is unrelated to the DNS problem you are facing. Uninstalling will not change from the Comodo DNS servers to your previous ones.
How to switch back? Follow this little tutorial. But instead of filling in the Comodo servers set it to automatically obtain DNS servers. Note, this tutorial is for Vista but should work for Win 7 as it is (almost) identical.
Does switching back do the trick for you?
Thanks
So this may not be DNS related but a “host file is protected by CIS” problem
Let’s look at that also
All HOSTMAN does is update, remove duplicates, sort, the host file
It also allows me to disable the host file (most likely by renaming and restoring the default)
CPU use is very heavy during the freeze and no major traffic on internet
Maybe some requests get out or they are being filled from cache.
Is there a CIS process that runs at boot or when waking up from sleep or power saving modes?
Problem with this idea is that it does not occur on the other systems not using CIS DNS Server .
I though that it might be in the order the programs were installed.
Hostman does not monitor the Hosts file as far as I understand it. That’s why I ruled it out it would play a role.
Did you disable the DNS service in Services. That was recommended in XP when using Hosts files bigger than 125 kB.
Does changing to your ISP’s DNS servers or the Open DNS servers change the behaviour?
on some machines I did but do not recall if i did on this one
It’s not supposed to be a problem with Vista or Win 7 but do I trust MS on that?
i can go into services and disable
do you have the service name handy or do I have to look it up?
I have not ever changed to open DNS
is there a walk -through somewhere?
So far the Services idea is the best one to try first
Then to disable the HOSTS file
but that does not reveal which program is “accessing” or manageing" or whatever
thanks
By suggesting to try Open DNS or your ISP’s DNS server I am trying to figure out if the problem you are facing is with Comodo DNS or on your system.
I agree that the Hosts file size is not a Vista/Win7 problem but sometimes people blindly take tweaks from Xp to Vista or Win 7. The service is called DNS client.
How to change DNS servers in Windows? Read this post of me in the above.
Please test with different DNS servers to see if the problem is local or with Comodo DNS. Otherwise I cannot continue.
switched to default servers DNS
will try till tomorrow
Have not fooled with Services yet as far as dnsclient/ DNSCache services
Black Viper changes made however but that was a long time ago
let’s see how it goes
thanks
edit
I had already made the change before reading your post
I’ll be glad to try several DNS servers including Open and Google, Norton, whatever and see if we can track this down for everyone
if changing servers does not work Ill try with dnsclient disabled with several Servers and let you know
Changing to default DNS server did not seem to make any difference
I’m going to try SERVICES later today
I’ll also check and see if Router is default 2-wire interface/router AT&T DSL internet FYI
I am on a windows XP-3 system now with No problems, however on this one I do think that I have DNS cache services disabled-and it is on default DNS I’ll check this weekend
is on same router
disabled dnsclient services
seems to fix the symptom
now to figure out what the problem is
spybot and others also try and lock the hosts file
Black viper recommends to leave dnsclient services on
If I find a real problem I’ll jot him and the Spybot folks a a note also
Update
System or some program still processing/ using host file upon restart/resume/ wakeup from"sleep" (with dnscach enabled)
With hostsoptimizer it does not “hang” nearly as long- almost useable
however I see no performance penalty with dnscache disabled in “services”
I thought this was supposed to have been fixed even in vista! (I skipped Vista)
so let’s spread the word
On ctl alt del = taskmanager I clicked the “performance” tab and the tabs disappeared and I cannot navigate to “Applications” or “Processes” ( persists after reboot)
makes it hard to track down whats running 
Thanks
Wyrmrider
That starts to smell like there is malware on your system. Please follow What to do if you’re infected - eXPerience Rev.3 and report back.
Thanks I’ll dl your link
seems to work fine with DNS cache disabled in services
DNS provider makes no difference
have MBAM and will run a scan
Have not run SAS but CAN
Have to many active anti spywares
Defense +
T-Timer
Giant-MS Anti spyware- Windows defender
have active x blocker file
and
Restricted sites but do not use IE often
everything else is up to date
but we never know do we
I’ll run a HJT and take a peek
cheers
Any Idaw on how to reset task manager?
Wyrmrider
SAS has the ability to unblock things malware often block. Look under Preferences → Repairs.
thanks for the tip on SAS unblocking hidden malware
I have it loaded on several systems but not live as it always wants to do a big update when I want to do something else
Also Use A2 but not auto removal for the reasons mentioned in your thread
I quit using it when they dropped support for Windows 98 and changed their user policies
still it finds things others miss (they all do)
on XP-Sp3 machine today
Wife is photoshopping on the Windows 7 x64 machine in question which has 4 gig
back at you mid next week
mbam, sas , Spybot, avast all clear
ned to run process explorer to try and find what’s chewing up the cpu cycles with dns cache enabled in services (seems to work fine when disabled