The first troubleshooting task is to make sure the appropriate services are running.
To ensure that the WINS services are running
1. Use the Services option in Control Panel to verify that the WINS services are running.
In the Services dialog box for the client computer, "Started" should appear in the Status column for the WINS client service. For the WINS server itself, "Started" should appear in the Status column for the Windows Internet Name Service.
2. If a necessary service is not started on either computer, start the service.