Restoring or Moving the WINS Database

This section describes how to restore, rebuild, or move the WINS database.

Restoring a WINS Database

If you have determined that the Windows Internet Name Service is running on the WINS server, but you cannot connect to the server using WINS Manager, then the WINS database is not available or has becomes corrupted. If a WINS server fails for any reason, you can restore the database from a backup copy.

You can use the menu commands to restore the WINS database or restore it manually.

To restore a WINS database using menu commands

  1. From the Mappings menu, choose the Restore Database command to display the Select Directory to Restore From dialog box.
  2. Select the location where the backup files are stored, and then choose the OK button.

To restore a WINS database manually

  1. In the \systemroot\SYSTEM32\WINS directory, delete the JET.LOG, JET*.LOG, WINS.TMP, and SYSTEM.MDB files.
  2. From the Windows NT Server installation source, copy SYSTEM.MDB to the \systemroot\SYSTEM32\WINS directory on the WINS server.

The installation source can be the Windows NT Server compact disc, the installation floppy disks, or a network directory that contains the master files for Windows NT Server.

  1. Copy an uncorrupted backup version of WINS.MDB to the \systemroot\SYSTEM32\WINS directory.
  2. Restart the Windows Internet Name Service on the WINS server.

Restarting and Rebuilding a Down WINS Server

In rare circumstances, the WINS server may not boot or a STOP error might occur. If the WINS server is down, use the following procedure to restart it.

To restart a WINS server that is down

  1. Turn off the power to the server and wait one minute.
  2. Turn on the power, start Windows NT Server, and then logon under an account with Administrator rights.
  3. At the command prompt, type the net start wins command, and then press Enter.

If the hardware for the WINS server is malfunctioning or other problems prevent you from running Windows NT, you will have to rebuild the WINS database on another computer.

To rebuild a WINS server

  1. If you can start the original WINS server using MS-DOS, use MS-DOS to make backup copies of the files in the \systemroot\SYSTEM32\WINS directory. If you cannot start the computer with MS-DOS, you will have to use the last backup version of the WINS database files.
  2. Install Windows NT Server and Microsoft TCP/IP to create a new WINS server using the same hard drive location and \systemroot directory. That is, if the original server stored the WINS files on C:\WINNT35\SYSTEM32\WINS, then the new WINS server should use this same path to the WINS files.
  3. Make sure the WINS services on the new server are stopped, and then use Registry Editor to restore the WINS keys from backup files.
  4. Copy the WINS backup files to the \systemroot\SYSTEM32\WINS directory.
  5. Restart the new, rebuilt WINS server.

Moving the WINS Database

You may find a situation where you need to move a WINS database to another computer. To do this, use the following procedure.

To move a WINS database

  1. Stop the Windows Internet Name Service on the current computer.
  2. Copy the \SYSTEM32\WINS directory to the new computer that has been configured as a WINS server.

Make sure the new directory is under exactly the same drive letter and path as on the old computer.

If you must copy the files to a different directory, copy WINS.MDB, but not SYSTEM.MDB. Use the version of SYSTEM.MDB created for that new computer.

  1. Start the Windows Internet Name Service on the new computer. WINS will automatically use the .MDB and .LOG files copied from the old computer.