Browse List Contains Obsolete Domain Names

• Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.51

SYMPTOMS

When you browse the network, only incomplete browse lists appear or the browse list contains domains that are no longer valid.

Incomplete browse list example:

   On a network with 2000 domains (2000 is the maximum number of domains
   that Browser can accommodate) less than 2000 domains appear on the
   browse list.

CAUSE

You are stopping the WINS service daily to do off-line compaction (Jetpack).

The WINS service triggers a scavenge of obsolete records if the time that elapsed from the WINS service startup has reached half of the renewal interval. The renewal interval is set to 96 hours by default, therefore the scavenge is performed after the WINS service runs continuously for 48 hours. If you stop the WINS service daily, that is every 24 hours, the scavenger never gets a chance to run and the domain records are never scavenged. Therefore, obsolete domains appear in the browser list and in the WINS Admin tool with old expiration dates, but still marked ACTIVE.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, enterprise Administrators have the option to do one or more of the following:

• Decrease the Renewal and Extinction intervals.
• Leave the WINS server up longer than the half the renewal interval.
• Manually initiate scavenging through the WINS Admin tool.
• Use an AT scheduler script to trigger the scavenge with WINSCL.EXE. For additional information on WINSCL.EXE read the section titled The WINSCL.EXE Command Line Utility below.
• In large enterprises, daily jetpacking of the WINS database may be necessary to keep the size of the WINS.MDB from becoming excessively large; this also helps maintain query performance and database integrity. Currently, the Jet database engine under WINS only supports off-line compaction.

The WINSCL.EXE Command Line Utility

WINSCL.EXE is a command line utility for WINS database management. It is included in the Windows NT 3.51 Resource Kit. A sample script, SCAVWINS.CMD, is given below. You should replace the xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx in the fifth line of the following script with the appropriate IP address for your server:

   @echo off
   REM Script for Initiating Scanvenging on WINS
   REM

   REM Local WINS IP address
   set winsip=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

   REM directory where winscl.exe is located
   set homedir=%systemroot%\system32\wins

   REM Create init file
   echo 1 >%homedir%\scav.in
   echo %winsip% >>%homedir%\scav.in
   echo SC >>%homedir%\scav.in
   echo EX >>%homedir%\scav.in

   REM execute winscl
   %homedir%\winscl <%homedir%\scav.in >%homedir%\scavwins.log

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 3.51. A fix to this problem is in development, but has not been regression-tested and may be destabilizing in production environments. Microsoft does not recommend implementing this fix at this time. Contact Microsoft Product Support Services for more information on the availability of this fix.