WINSADMIN Writes Invalid SP Time to Registry (192547)

SYMPTOMS

After you apply the hotfix described in the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base

187555 WINS Incorrect Version ID Assigned During Scavenging

you encounter the following event in the event log when the WINS service starts:

   4183 - WINS_EVT_WRONG_TIME_FORMAT
   ---------------------------------
   The format of time should be hh:mm:ss. Check value of "SpTime" in the
   Registry.

CAUSE

You only see this event if you have the Log Detailed Events option selected in the Advanced Configuration dialog box via WinsAdmin UI.

When the SpTime is 0 (the empty string), the internal time class writes out the string as "--". The old code never wrote out the string if the time was 0, so this wouldn't happen. The fix is to delete the value if it is 0.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0 or Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition Service Pack 4.

MORE INFORMATION

SpTime

   Data Type: REG_SZ
   Default: None
   Path: ..\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Wins\Partners\Pull
          \<Ip Address>

Specifies the start time for replication. For SpTime, WINS replicates at the set time if it is in the future for that day. After that, it replicates every number of seconds specified by TimeInterval. If SpTime is in the past for that day, WINS replicates every number of seconds specified by TimeInterval, starting from the current time (if InitTimeReplication is set to 1).