Location of DHCP Information on Local Clients (119917)

SUMMARY

Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.5 supports the following Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) clients:

Windows 2000 Professional
Windows 2000 Server
Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Windows NT Server versions 3.5, 3.51, and 4.0
Windows NT Workstation versions 3.5, 3.51, and 4.0
Microsoft Windows for Workgroups with TCP/IP-32
Microsoft MSNETWORK client version 3.0
Microsoft LAN Manager client for MS-DOS version 2.2c
Microsoft Windows 95

These clients use different methods to store the DHCP-related information on the local system so that when the client system boots, it can attempt to lease the same IP address again. Another advantage of using local storage is that when a DHCP server is down, a client with a valid lease can still use its allocated IP address.

MORE INFORMATION

Following is information on where to find DHCP information in the various local clients:

Windows 2000

Windows 2000 stores the local DHCP-related information in the Registry.

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

        \SYSTEM
             \CurrentControlSet
                  \Services
                       \TCPIP
                            \Parameters
                                 \Interfaces
                                      \<Network Adapter>

Windows NT 3.5, 3.51, and 4.0

Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server version 3.5 store the local DHCP-related information in the Registry.

   \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

        \SYSTEM
             \CurrentControlSet
                  \Services
                       \<Network Adapter>
                            \Parameters
                                 \Tcpip

Windows 95

Windows 95 stores the local DHCP-related information in the Registry.

   \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

        \SYSTEM
             \CurrentControlSet
                  \Services
                       \VxD
                            \DHCP
                                 \DhcpInfo00

LAN Manager 3.0 and MS-DOS LAN Manager 2.2c

LAN Manager version 3.0 and LAN Manager for MS-DOS version 2.2c clients both store the local DHCP-related information in the Dhcp.prm file in the <NETWORK_ROOT> folder. This file is in a binary format.

NOTE: The LAN Manager for OS/2 client does not support DHCP or WINS.

TCP/IP-32

Windows for Workgroups with TCP/IP-32 stores the DHCP-related information in the Dhcp.bin file under the <WINDOWS_SYSTEM_ROOT> subfolder. This file is in binary format.