<p>For complicated reasons, J’ai been forced to make an identical copy of <code>cmd.exe</code> and rename it to <code>cmd-2.exe</code>, which I put as a shortcut on the Taskbar to have them “grouped” in different taskbar groups.</p>
<p>Sometimes, I forget about this, and to open a new <code>cmd.exe</code> I middle-click that Taskbar icon to open a new <code>cmd.exe</code>. I then type a command such as <code>dir</code> and it spits out a bunch of nonsense, including: <code>DNS bad key</code>, which only happens if I accidentally use <code>cmd-2.exe</code>, not if I ouvrez le “real” <code>cmd.exe</code>, so it’s not a “practical” problem.</p>
<p>Cependant, I wonder why that message is ever printed at all. Is it apparently failing to do some kind of DNS lookup or something? Pourquoi DNS involved at all with issuing <code>dir</code> to list files on my local computer? J’ai no network set up, no cloud drives, nothing like that whatsoever. It scares me that (apparently) there are DNS queries being made when I issue <code>dir</code>.</p>
<p>Maybe <code>DNS bad key</code> refers to something completely unrelated to the Domain Name System? Je ne sais pas what a “bad key” would even be in that context.</p>