How to Configure TCP/IP DNS in Windows 95

In Windows 95, manually configuring TCP/IP Domain Name System (DNS) server addresses was accomplished through the Network applet in the Control Panel. By opening the properties of the installed TCP/IP protocol stack, users could access a dedicated DNS Configuration interface to define host names, domain names, and the specific IP addresses of preferred and alternate DNS servers required to resolve domain names across local networks and the internet.

Accessing the Network Utility

To reach the DNS configuration interface, users had to navigate through the Windows 95 Control Panel:

  1. Click the Start button, select Settings, and click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click the Network icon (or right-click Network Neighborhood on the desktop and choose Properties).
  3. On the Configuration tab, locate the list of installed network components.
  4. Select TCP/IP (or the specific TCP/IP protocol bound to the network adapter or Dial-Up Adapter) and click the Properties button.

Setting Manual DNS Addresses

Once the TCP/IP Properties window opened, DNS settings were configured under the DNS Configuration tab:

  • Enable DNS: By default, this option was set to "Disable DNS." Selecting the "Enable DNS" radio button unlocked the manual entry fields.
  • Host and Domain: Users had to enter the local machine's identifier in the Host field and their network provider’s domain in the Domain field.
  • DNS Server Search Order: To specify DNS servers, the user typed the numerical IP address into the input field and clicked Add. Windows 95 allowed multiple DNS IP addresses to be listed in order of priority.
  • Domain Suffix Search Order: Users could optionally add domain suffixes to automatically complete unqualified domain names.

After entering the required DNS server IP addresses, clicking OK saved the configuration. Windows 95 then prompted the user to insert the installation media if required files were missing, followed by a mandatory system restart for the new TCP/IP networking parameters to take effect.