question on changing registrar and domain renewal

Hi,
Apologies if this has been asked before, but I'm sort of new to all this.
I have a domain (<< removed by request>>) that will be expiring in March 2009. I want to renew it, but with a different registrar (probably netfirms.ca or namespro.ca) than the one I originally used to sign up for the domain last year (which was geohost.ca). How exactly do I go about doing that? And when should I start the ball rolling on the process in order to avoid downtime?





Last edited by writespeak : 12-14-2008 at 12:12 PM.

To transfer a .ca domain, you need to sign up with your new domain registrar and they will initiate the transfer. Make sure you have access to the domains Admin email, as you'll receive a confirmation email sent from CIRA.
As for down time, as long as your new registrar doesn't change the name servers to their own, and you are able to carry on using your current name servers, you'll have no down time.





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Thanks for the info....unfortunately, that's going to be a problem. The admin email I currently have for the domain is no longer accessible by me (I moved to another city and my ISP changed) and my current domain registrar says they charge $45 to get the email address changed.
Alternatively, could I let the domain expire, and then just sign it up again with my new registrar after the domain expires? It's not a domain that's likely to get snapped up if it's "on the market" for a small period of time....would that be the best course? I really don't want to spend $45 on this....that fee is one of the reasons I want to leave my current registrar!

It is a unusually high price to pay for an email change, but I don't think you should take the risk. Firstly the domain is likely to be snapped up automatically as it probably goes on auction before it goes available to the public. So you then have to pay to get it back and transfer it, which is likely to be more than $45. It also means your website won't be live for a long period of time while it's expiring. And as you asked about down time, I assume you don't want that to happen.





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Quote:



Originally Posted by canadave


Alternatively, could I let the domain expire, and then just sign it up again with my new registrar after the domain expires? It's not a domain that's likely to get snapped up if it's "on the market" for a small period of time....would that be the best course? I really don't want to spend $45 on this....that fee is one of the reasons I want to leave my current registrar!


First of all, I would edit out the domain name in the first post of this thread. You are basically asking cybersquatters to snap it up.
To be fair, since you no longer have access to the Admin Contact email (which is YOUR fault), it's not exactly a simple contact info change (because they then need to manually verify if your request is authentic), and it costs.
More importantly, thinking that one's domain is "not likely to be get snapped up" is probably the #1 reason why so many people lost their names. While it is true that .CA domains are relatively less likely to be taken up that way, I would never risk a useful domain for $45, esp. when it is your sole business domain.
I would recommend talking to someone you trust, for example your host (Hawk Host), and/or let them help transfer your domain away. Good luck.





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Quote:



Originally Posted by canadave


The admin email I currently have for the domain is no longer accessible by me (I moved to another city and my ISP changed) and my current domain registrar says they charge $45 to get the email address changed.


Your previous ISP might be able to help you. When I moved last year, my ISP let me keep my email address for a few months at no extra charge. If you ask your previous ISP, maybe they'll give you your email address back for a short time and a small fee, and during that time, you could update the address for your domain.
Good luck!
Lois





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OK, thanks everybody. This story has an easy--and happy--ending. I just initiated a domain transfer at namespro.ca, and it turns out that I could just log in at CIRA to confirm the domain transfer....not necessary to access any email. Once the domain transferred (very quickly), I was able to simply go in at my new namespro account and change my administrative contact info there (btw nameslave, that's why I thought it ridiculous to pay $45 to change my info; namespro--not to mention every other registrar I looked at--lets me access all my contact info for free via a control panel, which my old registrar didn't do--presumably so they can pocket $45 every time someone requests a change).
Anyway all working now and happy here.

Glad to hear it was solved easily.





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