Decommissioning WINS

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For Windows 2000 environments, you might want to reduce or eliminate the need to use WINS on your network. The process of removing installed WINS servers from your network is referred to as decommissioning. For this process to succeed, first consider the following:

  • Are any Windows-based computers on your network running earlier versions of Windows or Windows NT?

  • Do any client computers in your enterprise still use older Windows-based or MS-DOS-based applications, such as NET command-line utilities, that still require NetBIOS name service?

If the answer to either question is "yes," you still need WINS servers on your network to provide compatibility with older clients and applications. If the answer is "no," you can proceed with designing and implementing a process for removing WINS from your network.

To decommission WINS, you must also implement DNS as your primary naming service for all Windows-based computers active on your network. For more information about implementing DNS on your network, see "Windows 2000 DNS" in this guide. Once DNS is implemented, you can decommission WINS as described in the following sections.