We have a server with a static IP, let's say x.x.2.5. We have several WinXP (but not all) that will occasionally resolve the hostname to x.x.1.59 (x.x.1.x is the local subnet).
The DHCP range in the router is set to x.x.50-199 and the router has issued a lease for 1.59.
It is theoretically possible that some host with the same hostname is out there. It responds to ping but does not appear to have registered itself with our Windows DNS servers (no entry for 1.59), so I don't think that this is the case.
DNS for the 2.5 server is static and it only appears one time (no other entries for this server appear).
On the affected PC, if I do:
ping THEHOST
I get 1.59
if I do
nslookup THEHOST
I get 2.5
So it appears the local cache is somewhat fubar. If I restart the XP machine, it picks up the correct IP address and all is well. Failure is intermittent and not reproducible after reboot.
Our local Windows admin is stumped and so am I (but I'm not a Windows admin, so that is not surprising). Any way to track down this crazy IP? When it happens again, what should I check?