QuickDNS 1.1 build: 9639 released: 2016-05-31 compiled with: Java 1.8.0_131 Jet jet12.0-pro-x86/1.8.0_131

Refresh IPs in hosts. file.

Java application.
Download from: http://mindprod.com/products1.html#QUICKDNS
View formatted HTML Manual online at: http://mindprod.com/application/quickdns.manual.html

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Notes:

You must install the Java JRE to use this program.
See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/jgloss/jre.html

This program can only be used from the command prompt, (or via an command
line style icon shortcut) e.g. under Windows command.exe or JPSoft
tcmd.exe, formerly called the DOS box. Just clicking the programs in a
directory listing will not do anything useful. Just typing the program
names at the command prompt will not either.

This program requires a manual install! See below.

This program works with vanilla text files, (e.g. ASCII files or UTF-8
Unicode files). You will need a text editor to create and view them, not a word
processor. e.g. notepad, Visual Slick Edit or other suitable text editor
http://mindprod.com/jgloss/editor.html. You must use a monospaced font
http://mindprod.com/jgloss/monospacedfonts.html (aka fixed pitch, aka
programmer font) to view your files, or they won't look properly aligned.

I put out an avalanche of free software into the world, and submit PAD
files to hundreds of distribution sites, but I rarely hear back from
anyone. What's happening? Does it all just work fine? It is so
complicated nobody can figure out how to use it and they give up on it?
It is it useful? Since everyone has the source, do people just fix the
programs to their liking themselves? Did you have trouble installing? Do
I presume you know too much? I would be happy to hear from you about your
experiences, positive or negative and your requests for improvements. A
one-line email to roedy@mindprod.com would be great.

===> Free <===
Full source included.
You may even include the source code, modified or unmodified
in free/commercial open source/proprietary programs that you write and distribute.
May be used freely for any purpose but military.
For more details on this restriction, see
http://mindprod.com/contact/nonmil.html
If you include any Canadian Mind Products code in your own applications,
your app too must be labelled non-military use only.
http://mindprod.com/contact/nonmil.html
All Java jars and source code are included. If you need the class files or Javadoc, you will have to build them yourself. To streamline the zip downloads, class files and Javadoc have been removed.

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Prerequisites:

This program runs under any OS that supports Java,
(e.g.W2K/XP/W2003/Vista/W2008/W7-32/W7-64/W8-32/W8-64/Linux/LinuxARM/LinuxX86
/LinuxX64/Ubuntu/Solaris/SolarisSPARC/SolarisSPARC64/SolarisX86/SolarisX64/OSX/AIX...)
so long as you have
<><> Java version 1.8 <><> or later installed (32-bit or 64-bit Java).
See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/installingjava.html for details.

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Installing on a PC:

Download source and compiled jar files to run on your own machine as an application.
First install a recent Java JDK or JVM.
See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/installingjava.html.
To install, extract the zip download with WinZip
(or similar unzip utility) into any directory you please,
often J:\ -- ticking off the <span class="click">use folder names</span> option.
To run as an application, type:
java.exe %JAVA_OPTIONS -ea -jar J:\com\mindprod\quickdns\quickdns.jar {put any parms here}

adjusting as necessary to account for where the jar file is.

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Installing on a MacIntosh:

Use Safari to download source and compiled jar files to run on your own machine as an application.
Safari will automatically unpack the zip into ~/Downloads (version 10.5)
[or on the Desktop (version 10.4 and earlier)].
First install a recent Java JDK or JVM.
See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/installingjava.html.
You may optionally move the download tree to a permanent home.
I don't have a MacIntosh, just a PC, so I can't test my Java programs for Mac compatibility.
In theory they should work without problems, but in practice that does not always happen.
If you have problems please, let me know, preferably with screenshots and complete verbatim error messages.
To run as an application, without parameters, just double click the jar file.

To run as an application with parameters, in bash shell type:
open Terminal.app
cd ~/Desktop
java.exe -ea -jar com/mindprod/quickdns/quickdns.jar {put any parms here}

adjusting as necessary to account for where the jar file is.

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Rebuilding:

The zip already contains the necessary jar files, so unless you modify
the program, there is no need to recompile the source or rebuild the jar.
Configure.java basedir="E:/" in rebuild.xml to the drive where your files are.
Use ANT and rebuild.xml, not build.xml, to recompile and recreate the jar.

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Use:

What is QuickDNS for?
*********************
- It speeds up your browser when it looks up a website.
- It enables your browser to find critical websites even when your DNS
servers are down.
Overview
********
How does it work? Let me explain with a familiar analogy. When you
telephone someone, you either:
- memorise the number.
- look it up in your address book.
- look it up in a paper phone book.
- look it up in some electronic phone book.
- call directory assistance.
When your browser goes to a website, e.g. mindprod.com, similarly, it
needs to look up the number to get the IP 65.110.21.43. Your computer
does this automatically every time you visit a website by first visiting a
computer on the web called a DNS server to look up the name for you.
DNS Lookup vs Hosts. Lookup
***************************
There are two problems with this:
- it adds an extra second or more to fetching a web page. It is a bit
like looking up the number in an electronic phone book every time you make
a phone call.
- if there is anything wrong with the DNS server, you are dead in the
water, even if the website you want to visit is fully functional. What
you can do is create a little electronic address book of commonly visited
websites called C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. The computer does
not have to pester the DNS server to get these numbers. You can create
this file manually with a text editor such as Notepad. You can manually
look up the IPs of your common servers with the ping utility, e.g. on the
command line type: ping mindprod.com
The problem is, from time to time, the IPs change and your browser gets
sent to the wrong IP. You need something to keep the list of IPs up to
date. That is where QuickDNS comes in. You might run it every week or
every time you reboot or every time lookup seems to be failing.
See the manual at http://mindprod.com/application/quickdns.manual.html for
details on how to use it.
Windows 10
**********
QuickDNS does not work under Windows 10 unless the bat file that invokes it
has the "run as administrator" option. This is because Windows 10 now locks
the hosts. file as a system file.
Why the coil book icon? It represents a list of phone/address book of
commonly use IPs.

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Version History:

1.0 2014-09-06 original.

1.1 2016-05-31 Add error messages to detect running without administrator privilege, now required in Windows 10.

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