Can't resolve my computer name with tnsping

If you are using Active Directory, reset the computer account for  server.  Go to the server and type ipconfig/registerdns at the command prompt to register its Host A record in DNS.  If it works fine with IP address, then it's a DNS issue

I am not using active directory. I also don't know much about how the network is set up here. I'm on a large university campus so some other department manges all that. I just remembered something that might be important. When I connect to a shared folder on this computer by typing in the address (\\tsunami\shared) it works but it takes a very long time, like 15 - 30 seconds.

I don't know a ton about networking but I can tell you how I connect computers to the internet if that will help with the analysis. In the TCP/IP settings I enter static IPs and I define a preferred and alternate DNS. Using DHCP doesn't work.

Thanks.

Maybe it's a dns-problem.

Try in a command-window:

ipconfig /flushdns

and then try it again.
Furthermore try if you have entries in the %WINDIR%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts - file

I found out that the IP address was registered to the last computer name that had that address. So if I put the old computer name in tnsnames.ora then it will resolve the correct IP. I thought that a DNS server would update this information automatically, I guess not. I used the command netstat to figure this out.

So the problem has a band-aid fix right now, I'm still interested in why this happened and how I can fix it.  I tried ipconfig /registerdns and /flushdns, didn't seem to do anything. There is nothing in the hosts file.

DNS server will update this if you obtain DHCP (Dynamic) adrress.
If your IP is static it will be connected with your old computer name.

Also check for firewalls that often prevent networking.

How did the first computer name get registered? It would be impossible for someone to do this manually, there are thousands of computers in dozens of buildings here.

I work in a lab on the campus here and I have a list of IP address that I can use that was given to me when I started here. When I do an nslookup of these IPs I find that most of them are registered to computer names that we haven't had here for several years. So windows networking must not use the DNS because I can connect to a network share using the computer name, (//example comp name/share name)??

So is the only way to register the new computer names with the IPs to talk to whoever is in charge of the DNS?