In XP Pro how can I create a local alias for hostnames of some other computers on the domain?
When I created an entry in any of hosts
, lmhosts
, or lmhosts.sam
, I can ping a computer with the alias, but when I attempt to connect to a file share \\alias_name\share_name
, I get the following error:
\\alias_name
You were not connected because a duplicate name exists on the network. Go to System in Control Panel to change the computer name and try again.
I can connect to \\host_name\share_name
with or without the alias in the hosts
file.
I simply want the aliases on my computer for convenience so I don't have to remember or look up specific computer hostnames in a spreadsheet I keep for information on our ~50 computers.
Note: I am not a domain admin, and I don't believe this issue is important enough to ask to have it changed at their level.
EDIT:
The following is output from nslookup
showing the alias does not already exist as a hostname. The output was the same regardless of an entry being in the hosts
file. (I masked information below.)
C:\Documents and Settings\USER>nslookup host_name
Server: xxxx-ns.xxxx.com
Address: ###.###.###.50
Name: hostname.xxxx.com
Address: ###.####.###.19
C:\Documents and Settings\USER>nslookup alias_name
Server: xxxx-ns.xxxx.com
Address: ###.###.###.50
*** xxxx-ns.xxx.com can't find alias_name: Non-existent domain
EDIT2: Hosts file
127.0.0.1 localhost
###.###.###.14 alias_name