Host Resolution Priority Tweak

The tweak desribed below helps boost priority for DNS & hostname resolution in general. What this means is, it helps web pages load faster, and has negligible effect on downloads (not counting the couple of ms gain with the host resolution at connect-time).

What we're aiming at is to increase the priority of 4 processes, while keeping their order. Lower numbers mean higher priority compared to other services.

Let's examine these 4 services:

LocalPriority = 499 default default priority - local names cache
HostPriority = 500 default priority - the HOSTS file
DnsPriority = 2000 default priority - DNS host resolution
NetbtPriority = 2001 default priority - NetBD name resolution, including WINS

For these four services (all related to host name resolution), you will see some people recommending using the same priority, usually 1,1,1,1. The problem with that is it does not keep the correct order of priorities for the different services. That is why we recommend using small consecutive numbers, as the examples below. Using 5,6,7,8 increases their priority significantly compared to all other services (and their own default values) while keeping their correct order.

Applying this tweak assumes some proficiency in editing the Windows Registry using Regedit (Start > Run > type: regedit). Reboot after making changes. As always, backup your Registry before making any changes so you can revert to the previous state if you don't like the results.

Note: The below host name resolution tweak can also be used for changing name-resoluton order besides priority.

Windows 2k/XP

First, open the Windows Registry using Regedit, and (after backing up) navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\ServiceProvider

it should look something like the image to the left.

Note the following lines (all hex dwords):
Class = 008 (8) - indicates that TCP/IP is a name service provider, don't change.

LocalPriority = 1f3 (499) - local names cache
HostsPriority = 1f4 (500) - the HOSTS file
DnsPriority = 7d0 (2000) - DNS
NetbtPriority = 7d1 (2001) - NetBT name-resolution, including WINS

What we're aiming to do is increase the priority of the last 4 settings, while keeping their order. The valid range is from -32768 to +32767 and lower numbers mean higher priority compared to other services. What we're aiming at is lower numbers without going to extremes, something like what's shown below should work well:

Change the "Priority" lines to:
LocalPriority = 005 (5) - local names cache
HostsPriority = 006 (6) - the HOSTS file
DnsPriority = 007 (7) - DNS
NetbtPriority = 008 (8) - NetBT name-resolution, including WINS

illustration of what the registry should look like after applying the tweak

As usual, reboot for changes to take effect.

Windows 9x/ME

The tweak is essentialy the same as in Windows 2000/XP, just the location in the Registry is slightly different. For a more detailed description see the Windows 2000/XP section above.

Open the Windows Registry using Regedit, and (after backing up) navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\MSTCP\ServiceProvider

You should see the following settings:
Class=hex:08,00,00,00

LocalPriority=hex:f3,01,00,00
HostsPriority=hex:f4,01,00,00
DnsPriority=hex:d0,07,00,00
NetbtPriority=hex:d1,07,00,00

The "priority" lines should be  changed to:
LocalPriority=hex:05,00,00,00
HostsPriority=hex:06,00,00,00
DnsPriority=hex:07,00,00,00
NetbtPriority=hex:08,00,00,00 

Reboot for changes to take effect.

Windows Vista / 2008 Server

As with previous versions of Windows, one can improve DNS and hostname resolution by increasing the priority of of related services, while keeping their order. Lower numbers mean higher process priority. The corresponding registry settings in Vista are as follows:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\ServiceProvider
LocalPriority=4  (DWORD, recommended: 4, default: 499) - local names cache
HostsPriority=5  (DWORD, recommended: 5, default: 500) - the HOSTS file
DnsPriority=6  (DWORD, recommended: 6, default: 2000) - DNS
NetbtPriority=7  (DWORD, recommended: 7, default: 2001) - NetBT name resolution, including WINS

External Name Resolution Resources:
MSKB 250662 describes the Registry entries in the \ServiceProvider SubKey
MSKB 172218 - TCP/IP Host Name Resolution Order
Windows & .net Magazine - Navigating Name Resolution

For additional tweaks and information, check some of our other related articles:
Windows Vista tweaks
Windows XP/2k tweaking
Windows 2k/XP - More Tweaks
Advanced Tweaking
Browser Tweaks
LAN Tweaking
Windows Vista / 2008 Tweaks