DHCP Server May Offer a Zero-Length Lease Time If Conflict Detection Is Activated (269553)

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP1
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP1
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP1

This article was previously published under Q269553

SYMPTOMS

When a client computer sends a discover request with a requested address that the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server cannot give to the client (the address may be excluded, reserved for another client, outside the scope range, and so on), the DHCP server sends an offer with another valid lease address but with a zero-length lease time. Note that this problem can occur only when conflict detection is activated on the DHCP server.

CAUSE

This problem occurs because there is a code defect in the DHCP server, so the context of the initial discover request is never saved on the DHCP server.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260910 How to Obtain the Latest Windows 2000 Service Pack

The English-language version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

   Date        Time    Version        Size     File name
   --------------------------------------------------------
   08/10/2000  06:15p  5.0.2195.2103  270,608  Dhcpssvc.dll

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, turn off conflict detection on the DHCP server.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Windows 2000 Service Pack 2.

MORE INFORMATION

Although the server offers a zero-length lease time to the client, the client eventually receives a proper length lease when the server acknowledges the final DHCP request that is made by the client.

For additional information about how to install Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 hotfixes at the same time, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

249149 Installing Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Hotfixes

Modification Type:	Minor	Last Reviewed:	9/23/2005
Keywords:	kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbbug kbDHCP kbfix kbnetwork kbWin2000PreSP2Fix KB269553