The time stamps of resource records are removed in primary DNS zones on a Windows 2000-based server (833744)

CAUSE

This problem may occur if you enable the DNS aging and scavenging functions. When you click to select the Scavenge stale resource records check box in the Aging dialog box, and then you save your changes, the DNS administrative console sends the DnssrvResetZoneTypeEx command to the DNS service. The DnssrvResetZoneTypeEx command sets the zone type to primary, even if the zone type is already primary. When the zone type is set to primary, the time stamps are removed from the records in the zone.

RESOLUTION

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites are required.

Restart requirement

You must restart your computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

   Date         Time   Version            Size    File name
   -----------------------------------------------------------
   12-Dec-2003  17:16  5.0.2195.6882     701,200  Dnsmgr.dll       
   12-Dec-2003  17:23                      7,386  Kb833744.cat

MORE INFORMATION

Windows 2000 DNS servers support the aging and the scavenging functions. These functions provide the mechanism for removing stale resource records that may accumulate in zone data. Stale resource records take up space on the server and increase the time that it takes to load the zone data. Therefore, DNS performance declines.

Additionally, a server may use a stale resource record to answer queries that are addressed to the server, and therefore clients may experience name-resolution problems on the network. To resolve these problems, Windows 2000 DNS can scavenge stale records. In other words, Windows 2000 DNS can search the database for records that have aged and then delete them.

Administrators can control the aging and the scavenging functions by specifying which servers can scavenge zones, which zones can be scavenged, and which records must be scavenged if they become stale. DNS uses an algorithm that makes sure that it does not accidentally scavenge the records that must remain, assuming that all the parameters are correctly configured. For additional information about how hotfix packages are named, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

816915 New file naming schema for Microsoft Windows software update packages

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates