Watch out! Your Domain Name May Disappear!
Category: Domain Names | Date: 2002-02-28 |
It's true, your Domain Name can disappear and your site become unavailable. How do I know? It happened to me. I typed in my URL to check our E-Publishing site and got a message:
http://www.coyote-art.com can't be found.
Well, my first thought was "server down". That does happen because of maintenance. "Oh well, check it in the morning". I did and here was the same message:
http://www.coyote-art.com can't be found.
Hmmmm. I had better e-mail them and see what the problem is. Reply: "We are trying to find out what is wrong. It may be a script that finds the sites". That afternoon I tried again and the same message. Now I was getting upset. I called the hosting service and they said they were still checking scripts. They hoped to have an answer in a few hours. They called me back within the 2 hours and said they could find nothing wrong. Now I am furious. Site has been down as well as e-mail on that account for 3 days!
The Tech suggested I check the Domain Name Registrar to see if there might be a problem on that end. "Sometimes domain names get pointers changed". I had never thought of that or heard of it but I needed answers so here is what I did.
I logged on to Register.com which has the best information on "Whois". I typed in the Domain Name and it said it was owned. I went to the next information screen and there you find all the details under "Whois Results for coyote-art.com" First problem was that it listed someone I don't even know as the "Technical Contact". This meant that someone could access and alter the information on my Registered Domain Name.
Next I saw this information:
Record expires on 09-Jul-2001
Record created on 09-Jul-1999
Database last updated on 2-Jul-2001 02:15:00 EDT
I had not changed anything on my information for over a year and that was my address and e-mail. Let alone authorizing someone as "Technical Contact". I had also made a renewal payment in June. They lost it and it never got credited. They did get the money though. So according to them my Domain Name had expired.
To make a long story short, I renewed the Domain Name, they found the payment and my site will be back online in a few days after they process the paperwork.
So here is what I suggest you do:
Go to http://www.register.com
Type in your Domain Name.
On the next page on the top right click on it and that will take you to:
"Whois Results for XXyourdomainXX.com (net, etc)"
Print out the page and review it then put it in a safe place. The first paragraph will give you who your Domain Name is registered with.
Then go to the Registrar's site and make sure all your information is up to date.
Especially if you find any errors on the "Whois Results for XXyourdomainXX.com (net, etc)" page.
Make sure to check the expiration after you make a payment to your Registrar to see if it is reflected on the: "Whois Results for XXyourdomainXX.com (net, etc)" page.
Make sure you know when the payment is due. Not making the payment could result in someone else registering your Domain Name. Once it is expired for 30 days it becomes available. Some Registrars don't send out Due Notices.
Fortunately I was able to prove that the payment was made and got the whole thing straightened out. However it cost me this:
My site was down for 6 days (hopefully it will be back up tomorrow). This has cost me visitors and sales.
I have spent at least 20 hours trying to resolve the issue. I could have been working on productive things.
I got very angry which isn't good for your state of mind and makes it hard to get back on track.
The good side is that it has allowed me to share this information with you. So a good article came of it. Now maybe I can save someone else's bacon. The Internet is an ongoing learning experience. If you have any bizarre experiences, let me know so we can share it with other readers. mike@makemoneyhowto.com
Your Internet Friend,
Mike Smith, esm
About the Author
Your Internet Friend, Mike Smith, of CM/YMTC,
http://cmymtc.com, is an experienced site designer, writer, and master in Ebook and Ezine creation and marketing. His affordable two-book Easy Guide package will teach you everything you need to know to produce successful Ebooks and Ezines. You can even share in the profits with his Affiliate program.
http://www.makemoneyhowto.com/clkbnksale1.htm
webmaster@coyote1marketing.com
http://www.makemoneyhowto.com
http://www.coyote-art.com can't be found.
Well, my first thought was "server down". That does happen because of maintenance. "Oh well, check it in the morning". I did and here was the same message:
http://www.coyote-art.com can't be found.
Hmmmm. I had better e-mail them and see what the problem is. Reply: "We are trying to find out what is wrong. It may be a script that finds the sites". That afternoon I tried again and the same message. Now I was getting upset. I called the hosting service and they said they were still checking scripts. They hoped to have an answer in a few hours. They called me back within the 2 hours and said they could find nothing wrong. Now I am furious. Site has been down as well as e-mail on that account for 3 days!
The Tech suggested I check the Domain Name Registrar to see if there might be a problem on that end. "Sometimes domain names get pointers changed". I had never thought of that or heard of it but I needed answers so here is what I did.
I logged on to Register.com which has the best information on "Whois". I typed in the Domain Name and it said it was owned. I went to the next information screen and there you find all the details under "Whois Results for coyote-art.com" First problem was that it listed someone I don't even know as the "Technical Contact". This meant that someone could access and alter the information on my Registered Domain Name.
Next I saw this information:
Record expires on 09-Jul-2001
Record created on 09-Jul-1999
Database last updated on 2-Jul-2001 02:15:00 EDT
I had not changed anything on my information for over a year and that was my address and e-mail. Let alone authorizing someone as "Technical Contact". I had also made a renewal payment in June. They lost it and it never got credited. They did get the money though. So according to them my Domain Name had expired.
To make a long story short, I renewed the Domain Name, they found the payment and my site will be back online in a few days after they process the paperwork.
So here is what I suggest you do:
Go to http://www.register.com
Type in your Domain Name.
On the next page on the top right click on it and that will take you to:
"Whois Results for XXyourdomainXX.com (net, etc)"
Print out the page and review it then put it in a safe place. The first paragraph will give you who your Domain Name is registered with.
Then go to the Registrar's site and make sure all your information is up to date.
Especially if you find any errors on the "Whois Results for XXyourdomainXX.com (net, etc)" page.
Make sure to check the expiration after you make a payment to your Registrar to see if it is reflected on the: "Whois Results for XXyourdomainXX.com (net, etc)" page.
Make sure you know when the payment is due. Not making the payment could result in someone else registering your Domain Name. Once it is expired for 30 days it becomes available. Some Registrars don't send out Due Notices.
Fortunately I was able to prove that the payment was made and got the whole thing straightened out. However it cost me this:
My site was down for 6 days (hopefully it will be back up tomorrow). This has cost me visitors and sales.
I have spent at least 20 hours trying to resolve the issue. I could have been working on productive things.
I got very angry which isn't good for your state of mind and makes it hard to get back on track.
The good side is that it has allowed me to share this information with you. So a good article came of it. Now maybe I can save someone else's bacon. The Internet is an ongoing learning experience. If you have any bizarre experiences, let me know so we can share it with other readers. mike@makemoneyhowto.com
Your Internet Friend,
Mike Smith, esm
About the Author
Your Internet Friend, Mike Smith, of CM/YMTC,
http://cmymtc.com, is an experienced site designer, writer, and master in Ebook and Ezine creation and marketing. His affordable two-book Easy Guide package will teach you everything you need to know to produce successful Ebooks and Ezines. You can even share in the profits with his Affiliate program.
http://www.makemoneyhowto.com/clkbnksale1.htm
webmaster@coyote1marketing.com
http://www.makemoneyhowto.com
Copyright © 2005-2006 Powered by Custom PHP Programming