How to Remove Static WINS Entries from All WINS Servers

ID: Q177140

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information on how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" online Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" online Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SUMMARY

Static entries should only be used on your Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) Servers for non-WINS aware clients that cannot register with a WINS server, such as UNIX or AS400 hosts.

There are many methods for removing static entries from a WINS database. Some of the methods in this article involve stopping all WINS server replication. Although using the Migrate On feature in WINS Manager does not require stopping replication, it may not remove all static entries. Another method that does not require stopping replication involves the use of a temporary additional WINS server. This method does require a registry change on all WINS servers.

For more information on the Migrate On feature, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q167806
TITLE : Explanation of Advanced Options in WINS Manager

ARTICLE-ID: Q171794
TITLE : Migrate On/Off Does Not Allow Overwriting Static [1Ch] Mappings


MORE INFORMATION

Methods That Do Not Require WINS Replication to Be Stopped

There are two methods that do not require you to stop WINS replication on your network; however, both methods do require a registry change on all WINS servers.

Method 1 uses a new, temporary WINS server

To remove static entries, use the following steps:

  1. Install a new WINS Server on your network.

    NOTE: This will not be a production server; in other words, no clients will register with this WINS server. This server will only store static mappings and allow easy deletion of the static mappings.


  2. Make a note of all of the static entries that you want to delete from all of your WINS servers throughout your network. You should note the NetBIOS name and the record type, such as Unique, Group, and so on.


  3. Add each of the entries from step 2 as static entries on the new WINS server that you created in step 1.


  4. Configure your new WINS server to replicate these static entries to all other WINS servers through a central hub WINS server. If the replication configuration is not of the hub/spoke model, make certain that replication takes place with a WINS server that will reach all other downstream WINS servers.


  5. Delete all of the static mappings from Static Mappings at all of the WINS servers, except the new WINS server, on the Mappings menu of WINS Manager. The original Owners of the static mappings may still retain ownership of the mappings they have entered locally and this will remove their local copy and ensure a replica copy of the record now resides in the local database.


  6. After the static entries have fully replicated, make the following registry change to all production WINS Servers:

    WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

    For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" online Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" online Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.

    1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).


    2. Go to the following subkey and select it:

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WINS\Partners

      NOTE: The data field of the PersonaNonGrata value has a practical limit of 99 IP addresses. Any number of IP addresses beyond 99 may cause the WINS Service to fail to start.


    3. Click Add Value on the Edit menu and use the following information:

      Value Name: PersonaNonGrata
      Data Type : REG_MULTI_SZ
      Data : IP Address of the new WINS Server created in step 1
      Default : <none>


      4. NOTE: This registry value does not go in either the Push or Pull subkey of the Partners subkey, but it is entered as a Value in the Partners subkey. After enabling the value, stop and restart the WINS service.

      This parameter specifies the IP addresses of WINS servers whose records are not to be inserted into the local database during replication.

      For more information, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge base:

      ARTICLE-ID: Q166485
      TITLE : Removing Entries in WINS from Other Nonexistent WINS Servers


  7. After adding the PersonaNonGrata registry value and restarting the WINS service, you must perform the following steps on all WINS servers except the new WINS server that you created in step 1:

    1. Using WINS Manager, click Show Database on the Mappings menu.


    2. Click the new WINS server in the Select Owner list.


    3. Click Delete Owner to delete all records owned by the new WINS Server.


    The registry value will prevent these entries from being replicated back before the entries are deleted from every other WINS Server.


  8. You may now remove the WINS server created in step 1 from replication and disable or remove the WINS service.


Method 2 uses the ConsistencyCheck registry key

NOTE: All WINS servers must be running Windows NT Server version 4.0 to use this method. It is also important to note that this method uses a lot of bandwidth and is not appropriate to use across slow WAN links.

  1. Delete the static mapping from the owning WINS server.


  2. Prior to the next replication perform a consistency check using Winscl.exe from the Windows NT Resource Kit or using the ConsistencyCheck registry keys.


For more information, see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q154410
TITLE : New WINS Registry Entries In Windows NT 4.0

ARTICLE-ID: Q167704
TITLE : Explanation of Windows NT 4.0 WINS Consistency Checking

ARTICLE-ID: Q169216
TITLE : Using Winscl.exe to Remove Corrupt WINS Entries by Version ID

Methods That Require WINS Replication to be Stopped

All of the methods in this section require you to stop all WINS replication on your network. To remove static entries from all of your WINS servers, use the following steps:

  1. Stop all replication in your WINS environment.

    1. Using WINS Manager, click Replication Partners on the Server menu.


    2. Clear the Replication Options check boxes for every server in the WINS Server list.


    NOTE: This need only be done on one side of a replication pair (a pair of WINS servers set to replicate with one another). Make sure you have the replication partner settings documented before breaking any replication pair. Please note: the partner you are replicating with may get event log messages about the missing replication partner.


  2. Remove the static entries using one of the following methods:

    • Use Winscl.exe to remove the static entries. Winscl.exe is a utility contained in the Microsoft Windows NT Resource Kit.

      For more information, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge base:

      ARTICLE-ID: Q137582
      TITLE : Using WINSCL.EXE

      -or-


    • Use the following steps:

      1. Add static entries to each of the replication partners with the names and correct IP addresses of the entries that you want to remove.


      2. Delete them immediately after you add them.


      -or-


    • Use the Delete Owner function of WINS Manager. This method will remove all records owned by a selected WINS server from a WINS database. This method is described below through a step-by-step example.




  3. Using WINS Manager, click Replication Partners on the Server menu and recreate the replication pairs that you broke in step 1.


  4. Depending on the type of static entries you have removed (COMPUTERNAME, DOMAIN, and so on), you may need force certain computers to register with WINS at this time.


Example of Using the Delete Owner Function of WINS Manager

To illustrate how to use Delete Owner, assume the following:

  • DomainX is the domain name for a domain and the domain controllers in this domain register with their WINS server, whose computer name is Wins1.


  • The domains are Domain1, Domain2, and Domain3.


  • The static entry that needs to be removed is Domain3[1Ch] from the WINS replication environment.


  • The WINS servers are configured using the hub and spoke method of replication:

    • Wins1 is the hub server that is set up to do a full PUSH/PULL operation with both Wins2 and Wins3.


    • Wins2 and Wins3 are configured to PUSH/PULL with WINS1.




For this example, there is a static entry for the Domain3[1Ch] NetBIOS name in the database of Wins2. This static entry has replicated to both Wins1 and Wins3. The Domain3[1Ch] entry is a Group (or Domain for Windows NT 4.0) type registration that should contain every IP address for domain controllers in the Domain3 domain (up to a maximum of 25 IP addresses).

For more information on NetBIOS names registered with WINS, see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q119495
TITLE : List of Names Registered with WINS Service

ARTICLE-ID: Q163409
TITLE : NetBIOS Suffixes (16th Character of the NetBIOS Name)

Because there is now a static entry for Domain3[1Ch] in the Wins3 database, the domain controllers in Domain3 can no longer dynamically register the Domain3[1Ch] entry with Wins3. The fact that this entry is owned by the Wins2 server makes no difference here. A static entry always takes precedence over a dynamic entry, regardless of who is the owner of the record. You need to remove this static entry so that domain controllers in Domain3 can once again dynamically register the Domain3[1Ch] entry with WINS.

To remove this static entry, use the following steps:

  1. Break all replication:

    1. From WINS Manager, double-click Wins1 (it may show only the IP address of Wins1). Verify that Wins1 is the currently selected WINS server by noting the title in the caption bar. It should display the following:

      • WINS Manager - (Wins1)

        -or-


      • WINS Manager - (Local)




      NOTE: If you are currently logged on locally to Wins1, you will see the second title above. The computer name, Wins1, may be replaced with the IP address of Wins1.


    2. Click Replication Partners from the Server menu.


    3. Click Wins2 in the WINS Server list of the Replication Partners dialog box.


    4. Click to clear the check mark from both the Push Partner and Pull Partner check boxes in the Replication Options section of the dialog box.


    5. Repeat steps c and d for WINS server Wins2.


    6. Click OK to exit this dialog box and return to the main WINS Manager screen.


    7. At this point, you have stopped all replication in your WINS environment.


    NOTE: You did not need to go into Wins2 or Wins3 and break replication with Wins1 because you have basically done this in the earlier steps in the other direction.


  2. Remove the static entries using Delete Owner:

    1. From WINS Manager, double-click Wins1 to make it the current WINS server.


    2. Click Show Database on the Mappings menu.


    3. Click Wins2 in the Select Owner list of the Show Database dialog box. Click Delete Owner to remove all records owned by Wins2 from this database.

      NOTE: In the event that you do not know which WINS server is the owner of the static entry, refer to the section, Finding the Owner of a Static Entry, below.


    4. Click Close and repeat steps a through c for all WINS servers that contain the static entry in question.




  3. Recreate all replication pairs that were broken in step 1:

    1. From WINS Manager, click Replication Partners on the Server menu.


    2. Click the replication partners you wish to re-add and select the Push Partner and Pull Partner check boxes in the Replication Options section of the Replication Partners dialog box.




  4. Force any pertinent computers to reregister with WINS:

    1. You chose the Delete Owner method, which deleted all records owned by Wins2. You now need to restart Wins2 as well as all workstations and servers that register with Wins2.


    2. At this point, you may either wait for replication to occur normally or force replication through WINS Manager by clicking Replicate Now in the Replication Partners dialog box.




Finding the Owner of a Static Entry

You may not initially know which WINS server is the owner of a static mapping, in which case you will need to do a little searching. To accomplish this, do the following:

  1. In the Show Database dialog box of WINS Manager, click the first server in the Select Owner list.


  2. Scroll through the list of names in the Mappings list looking for entries with a check mark in the S column. These are static mappings. If you do not find the entry for which you are looking, click the next WINS server in the Select Owner list and search the names. Continue searching each WINS server in the Select Owner list until you find the static mapping you want to delete.

    NOTE: You may use the Filter function of WINS Manager to limit the list that you search; however, this function will not display [1Bh] entries.

    For more information, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge base:

    ARTICLE-ID: Q173202
    TITLE : 1B Record Missing in WINS Manager with View Filtered for Domain


  3. Make a note of who is the owner of this record (the currently selected WINS Server in the Select Owner list).


Additional query words:

Keywords : kbnetwork nthowto ntnetserv ntregistry NTSrv
Version : winnt:3.5,3.51,4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbinfo


Last Reviewed: October 15, 1999
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