WINS Client Stops Querying or Renewing with WINS (155501)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
  • Microsoft TCP/IP-32 for Windows for Workgroups 3.11b
  • Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.11
  • Microsoft Windows 95
This article was previously published under Q155501

SYMPTOMS

Computer name and domain name resolution to computers on remote segments is failing. The more specific symptoms you may see are the inability to:

  • Ping a remote computer (across a router) by its computer name (NetBIOS name).
  • log on to a domain when the only domain controllers are on other side of routers.
  • Net View or Net Use computers that are on the other side of routers.
  • retrieve the browse list of a remote domain that the client sees in its local browse list.
You also may discover that other remote clients can no longer Net View or Net Use your client, and that your client registrations in WINS have expired (as indicated with a hyphen "-" or a tombstone "+" character).

CAUSE

The client has stopped querying WINS, and instead is relying only on subnet broadcasts for name resolution (like a b-node client). This may happen if the following two conditions are met:
  • The primary WINS server has gone down. -and-

  • The client does not have a secondary WINS server listed for name resolution (or the DHCP lease does not give a secondary WINS address).
The reason for this behavior is in the WINS query algorithm on the client:
  1. When booting up, register your name with your primary WINS server. Or when performing a normal name query, first send the request to your primary WINS server.
  2. If the primary WINS server does not respond after 3 attempts, send your registration or query to the secondary WINS server listed.
  3. If the secondary WINS server does not respond after 3 attempts, send the query again to the primary WINS server, and continue alternating between primary and secondary WINS server until one of them responds.
The problem results if there is no secondary WINS server listed. The client sometimes reverts to B-Node (broadcast only) behavior and stops querying the WINS server completely.

RESOLUTION

If you only have one WINS server, you should fill in its IP address as both the primary and secondary WINS server on all clients.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:12/6/2003
Keywords:kbnetwork KB155501
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.