The DNS Client Service Does Not Revert to Using the First Server in the List (286834)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP1
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP2
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP1
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP2
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP1
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP2
This article was previously published under Q286834
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

SYMPTOMS

The Windows 2000 Domain Name System (DNS) Client service (Dnscache) follows a certain algorithm when it decides the order in which to use the DNS servers that are configured in the TCP/IP properties. This behavior is described in the Windows 2000 DNS white paper, which is available from the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/plan/w2kdns2.mspx

If the DNS server list is reprioritized, the Windows 2000 DNS Client service may not reset the server priority at periodic intervals.

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 version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later: 
   Date         Time   Version      Size    File name
   -----------------------------------------------------
   26-Sep-2001  10:09  5.0.2195.43  94,992  Dnsrslvr.dll

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 3.

MORE INFORMATION

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.

After you apply this hotfix, the server priorities are reset every 15 minutes by default. You can configure this behavior configured by adding the following registry value:

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters

Value: ServerPriorityTimeLimit
Data type: REG_DWORD
Range: 0x0 to 0xFFFFFFFF seconds

If you set this value to 0 (zero), the server priorities will be reset before the Client service decides with DNS server to use. Therefore, the DNS server that is configured first will be attempted first on each query. To make the changes to this value effective, you must restart Windows 2000. 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:MinorLast Reviewed:12/9/2005
Keywords:kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbbug kbDirServices kbfix kbWin2000PreSP3Fix kbWin2000sp3fix KB286834
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