Enable DNS to Use WINS Resolution

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

The DNS Server service can use Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) servers to look up names that are not in the Domain Name System (DNS) domain namespace by checking the NetBIOS namespace that WINS manages. You can use this procedure to enable DNS to forward queries to WINS servers.

Membership in Administrators, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at Local and Domain Default Groups (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477).

To enable DNS to use WINS resolution

  1. Open DNS Manager. To open DNS Manager, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.

  2. In the console tree, right-click the applicable zone, then click Properties.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • If the applicable zone is a forward lookup zone, on the WINS tab, select the Use WINS forward lookup check box. In IP address, type the IP address of a WINS server to be used for resolution of names that are not found in DNS, and then click Add.

    • If the applicable zone is a reverse lookup zone, on the WINS-R tab, select the Use WINS-R lookup check box. In Domain to append to returned name, type a name.

  4. Select the Do not replicate this record check box for this WINS record, if applicable.

    If you are replicating this zone between DNS servers that do not recognize the WINS or WINS-R resource records, select this check box. This prevents these records from being replicated to these other DNS servers during zone transfers. If this zone will be used to perform zone transfers to Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) servers, this is a critical option because BIND will not recognize WINS records.

Additional considerations

  • When you enable this option, specified WINS servers that are configured in this procedure are used for final referral of names that are not found in the applicable zone.

  • As an option, you can click Advanced to adjust advanced WINS lookup.

Additional references