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How to set up OpenDNS or Google DNS on Windows XP

XP is end-of-life, but these DNS steps still help isolated lab or kiosk machines reach sites that fail on ISP DNS.

Why change DNS on XP?

XP machines often sit on old routers with sticky DNS caches. Public DNS is a quick remediation.

Recommended public DNS servers

  • OpenDNS (Cisco): 208.67.222.222 / 208.67.220.220
  • Google Public DNS: 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4
  • Cloudflare DNS: 1.1.1.1 / 1.0.0.1

Steps for Windows XP

  1. Open Control Panel → Network Connections.
  2. Right-click your connection → Properties.
  3. Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) → Properties.
  4. Select Use the following DNS server addresses.
  5. Enter 208.67.222.222 / 208.67.220.220 (OpenDNS) or 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4 (Google).
  6. Click OK, then OK again.

Flush DNS on Windows XP

Use the classic ipconfig command.

ipconfig /flushdns
  1. Click Start → Run, type cmd, press Enter.
  2. Type ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter.
  3. Retry the website in your browser.

Verify it worked

Prefer upgrading the OS when possible. Until then, public DNS and a modern browser reduce many “site unreachable” reports.

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