Windows 7: Internet keeps dying because "DNS server isn't responding"

I'm on vacation so the internet is highly questionable. Whenever I first turn on my computer, the internet works fine. Then after about 5 minutes pages decide to stop loading. The bars in the bottom right say I have a full connection, yet no access. I use IE to see what's wrong and it comes back with "DNS server is not responding." If I wait a long enough time, the internet comes back, but it is really annoying to have to wait 5 minutes every 10 minutes while using it.



I have tried the numerous fixes out there but they haven't helped and now I would like a more personal approach. Any takers? Thanks!

change* your dns server to a more universal worldwide one, such as google's on 8.8.8.8 and/or 8.8.4.4 or opendns' on 208.67.222.222 or 208.67.220.220.

*-control panel, network, adapter settings, properties, ipv4 settings, change obtain dns automatically to using one or more of the above fixed addresses.

I'm also using a program called DNS Jumper, mentioned here:

Speed Up Your Web Browsing in a Few Clicks: A Brief Introduction to DNS

This has worked perfectly so far. Thank you very much! I just hope that I didn't screw anything up for whoever owns this place.

you are welcome. glad to be of assistance. your pc's setting should have no effect on the owner's setup. you can even expect it to work well when you get your pc back home. google and opendns servers are actually clusters of servers located around the world so that you are always fairly close (in electronic terms) to one of them, hence they tend to be faster and more reliable than the ones your local isp uses.