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I'm the only Windows user at my workplace full of Macs. Of course, being the only person with a different setup, I'm often left to do my own IT troubleshooting.

The issue I have is that everyone's computer is accessible via {hostname}.local (eg, foobar.local), but when I type that in, the host can't be resolved.

I've found that if I change the .local part to my "Connection-specific DNS Suffix" then it works:

ping foobar.local            // Ping request could not find host foobar.local

ping foobar.corp.mywork.com  // <-- now works. Resolves to 10.0.10.25

Simply switching to use the full part isn't an option (long story, but just trust me on that one).

So, how do I get Windows to resolve hostname.local addresses?

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You need a Multicast DNS resolver for Windows. I don't know what's available so this isn't an answer, but perhaps this would help as a search term. – Kevin Reid Apr 15 '11 at 0:05
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Install Bonjour for Windows, available from Apple at http://support.apple.com/kb/DL999.

Now confusingly named Bonjour Print Services for Windows. It includes the correct resolver for .local addresses.

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This makes ping work but I can't access the computer in Explorer by hostname.local. Maybe that is a whole separate problem. – Moss Nov 24 '11 at 2:12
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