IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you
modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore
the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the
registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
MORE INFORMATION
In environments with Dial-on-Demand routers, frequent name refreshes may
create undesirable router traffic that can be limited by adding a static
entry for the client in WINS.
When a WINS client is started, it sends its name registrations to the WINS
server. If the WINS server is across a Dial-on-Demand router, the router
dials.
The WINS client then sends a refresh request of its name to the WINS
server. The first attempt to send the refresh request occurs when one-eighth of its InitialRefreshTimeout interval expires. By default, the value for the InitialRefreshTimeout is 960,000 ms (or 16 minutes), and one-eighth of that value is 2 minutes.
The minimum value for this registry entry is 960,000 ms, so it is
impossible to prevent the refresh request from occurring. Setting the value
in the registry to 0xffffffff defines the interval for the refresh request,
or one-eighth of the IntitialRefreshTimeout, to approximately 50 days.
Once a WINS server receives the refresh request from the WINS client across
the router, the WINS server returns a refresh response. The server's
refresh response includes the client's renewal interval, which the client
uses to determine the wait time before its next refresh request. This is
determined by one-eighth of the renewal interval (which by default is 96
hours, so the next refresh will occur in 12 hours).
You can change the value if the InitialRefreshTimeout setting according to
your needs. For more information on where you can change this parameter,
see the section below for your version of Windows.
Windows NT
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may
require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve
problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own
risk.
For computers running Windows NT Server or Windows NT Workstation, you can
change the registry entry for InitialRefreshTimeout. It is located in the
following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NetBt\Parameters
InitialRefreshT.O. REG_DWORD
Range : 960,000 to 0xFFFFFFF milliseconds
Default: 960,000 (16 minutes)
This parameter specifies the initial refresh timeout used by NetBIOS over
TCP/IP (NBT) during name registration. NBT tries to contact the WINS
servers at one-eighth of this time interval when it first registers names.
When it receives a successful registration response, that response contains
the new refresh interval to use.
Windows for Workgroups 3.11
For computers running Windows for Workgroups 3.11, you can add the
following line to the [NBT] section of the System.ini file:
InitialRefreshT.O.=<value in milliseconds>
Windows 95
For computers running Windows 95, you can change the registry entry for
InitialRefreshTimeout. It is located in the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\MSTCP
InitialRefreshTimeout: REG_DWORD: milliseconds