My free domain name whois lookup software is a Win98/XP/Vista!!! program for checking domain name whois details from your desktop that I originally created in 2004 for my own use. It was previously located at whois-software.com but I’m moving it here because it doesn’t need its own website.
Whois Software Features
- Check whois details for .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .us, .co.uk, .org.uk and other tlds (customisable).
- View results for multiple domains easily using the tabbed result display.
- Review previous whois lookups by selecting the domains from the drop down list.
- Minimize the software to the system tray, then bring to the front of all other
applications when you need it with a simple keypress.
WARNING – This is old, obsolete and unsupported software – use it at your own risk – or better still, don’t.
A screenshot of the free domain name whois lookup software
Download The Software
The Free Whois software can be downloaded by clicking the link below.
Just save the whois.zip file on your computer,
then extract the files in it to wherever you want using your favourite zip software.
A folder named “whois” will be created with all the files required in it.
Double click on the Whois.exe file to run the software (just like any other program), or place it in your startup folder so its already there.
Software Licence
This software is distributed free, “as is”, without any warranty express or implied. Usage is at your own risk.
This software is copyright 2004. You may not sell or otherwise redistribute this software in any
way, shape or form, without prior permission.
(freewhois.zip, approx. 1mb)
Full documentation is included in the “docs” folder of the distribution, or can be viewed below.
Whois Software Documentation
- Introduction
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- The Toolbar
- Menu Options
- Settings
- Whois Server Configuration
- Licence
- Uninstall Instructions
Keyboard Shortcuts
The following keyboard shortcuts can be used:
- Lookup – Ctrl + L
- Visit website – Ctrl + W
- Copy result to clipboard – Ctrl + C
- Save result – Ctrl + S
- Quicksave result – Ctrl + Q
- Print result – Ctrl + P
- Minimize application – Ctrl + M
- Restore application – Ctrl + Spacebar (customizable)
The Toolbar
Domain Name
Enter the domain name you want to do a whois lookup on in this box. The box contains a
drop-down list of your recently looked-up domains. Select a domain from the list to display the previously
looked-up whois details.
Lookup (shortcut: Ctrl-L)
Click the lookup button to start the whois lookup for the domain name entered in the
box on the left.
Visit website (shortcut: Ctrl-W)
The website button attempts to open your default web browser at the domain entered on the left.
Whois server
Select the whois server to lookup the domain at. If the auto-detect option is on, the software automatically
detects the whois server to use based on the domain extension, and the server box is disabled.
Auto-detect whois server
If the auto-detect button is down, the software will attempt to auto-detect which
whois server to use for the lookup depending on the domain name tld.
Redirect to authoritive whois server
If selected, the software will attempt to redirect its lookup to the authorative whois server for the
domain name (valid for .com and .net). If this option is not selected, then the software will only check
the registry whois details (default: whois.crsnic.net for .com and .net).
Copy whois result to clipboard (shortcut: Ctrl-C)
Copies the current whois result to the Windows clipboard so you can easily paste it into another application.
Save whois result (shortcut: Ctrl-S)
Opens a file dialog to allow you to enter a filename to save the current whois data in plain text format.
Quicksave whois result (shortcut: Ctrl-Q)
Saves the current whois data in the folder specified in the settings dialog (default: “quicksave/”) in
a text file with the name “{domainname}-{whois-server}.txt” where {domainname} is the replaced by the domain name
and {whois-server} is replaced by the whois server, for example, quicksaving the results of a whois lookup
of “example.com” at “whois.crsnic.net” would create a file called “example.com-whois.crsnic.net.txt”.
Print whois result (shortcut: Ctrl-P)
Prints the current whois data.
Discard whois result (shortcut: Ctrl-D)
Closes the currently selected whois result tab.
Minimize to system tray (shortcut: Ctrl-M)
Hides the application window and adds an icon to the system tray (normally at the bottom right of your desktop).
The application can be restored at any time by pressing the HotKey combination defined in the settings dialog
(default Ctrl + Spacebar), or by clicking on the icon in the system tray. 
Menu Options
The following menu options are available from within the application:
- File
- Edit Settings Displays the edit settings dialog
- Edit server settings Displays the edit whois server / tld configuration dialog
- Minimize to SysTray Hides the application and creates an icon in the system tray
- Remove program’s registry entries Removes all configuration settings the program has stored in the Windows system registry. Only use before uninstalling the software.
- Exit Quit the application
- Whois
- Lookup Lookup the domain name
- Visit Website Open the default web browser with the current domain name
- Copy result Copy the whois result to the Windows clipboard
- Save result Save the whois result to a text file
- Quicksave result Quicksave the whois result
- Print result Print the whois result
- Delete result Closes the currently selected whois result tab
- Links The links menu contains links to the old homepage for this software, plus other websites. These may be out of date now.
- Help
- Help Displays these instructions
- About Displays a dialog box with information about this software
Settings
The settings dialog (accessible via the File -> Edit Settings menu option allows you to configure
several aspects of the software.
- HotKey The HotKey keyboard combination is used to bring the application to the front of
all other open applications. When the HotKey is activated, the software will also check if there is a
domain name in the Windows clipboard, and if there is, will automatically begin a whois lookup on it. - Minimize to toolbar on application startup
If this checkbox is checked, then the application will hide itself when first run, except for a small
icon in the Windows Desktop system tray (usually located at the bottom-right of your desktop).
The application can be restored by left-clicking on this icon, or by pressing the HotKey keyboard
combination.This option allows you to have the software running in the background
and available with a quick key-press, without getting in the way of your other applications. - Recent Lookups This setting determines how many of your recent whois lookups are stored
and listed on the domain name drop-down box on the toolbar. You can view the recent results for
a domain name you have previously looked up by selecting it from the drop-down list on the application toolbar. - Quicksave Folder This allows you to change the folder where whois results are saved
when you click the quicksave button. - Set font and font-size This lets you select the font and font size to use to display
whois results. - OK Click this button to close the settings dialog and save your changed.
- Cancel Click this button to close the settings dialog without saving your changes.
Whois server configuration
The whois server configuration dialog (accessible via the “File -> Edit Server Settings” menu option)
allows you to add and configure the whois servers used to lookup each tld.
To edit a tld, select it from the drop-down list. The following settings are available for each tld:
- Whois Server: Specify the whois server to use to lookup domains with this tld. (eg. whois.crsnic.net for .com and .net)
- Available Text: Enter some text that only appears in the whois data if the domain name is
available. Text you enter here is used by the software to determine if the domain name is available for
registration. - Authoritative Server: For some tlds (.com and .net) limited whois information is available from
the registry whois server. For full whois information we need to find the authorative whois server and query it as well.
Enter the text that appears in the registry whois output which identifies the registrar whois server for domains
with this tld. (eg., for .com and .net looked up at whois.crsnic.net, the name of the
whois server to query is preceeded by “Whois Server:”). - Command: The command field is optional.
Anything you enter here will be prefixed to the domain name when querying the whois server.
By default, only the servers for .com and .net have a command specified (“domain”), which instructs the
whois server to return results for the specified domain name.
To add a new tld, click the Add Tld button. To delete a tld, click the Delete Tld button.
Click the OK button to save all your changes, or the Cancel button to discard your changes.
Software Licence
This software is distributed free, “as is”, without any warranty express or implied. Usage is at your own risk.
This software is copyright 2004. You may not sell or otherwise redistribute this software in any
way, shape or form, without written permission.
Uninstalling the software
Manual removal of the software is a simple 2-step process:
- Run the software, and select the “Remove program’s registry entries” from the File menu.
This removes any configuration settings the software has stored in the Windows system registry. - Delete the folder containing the software.