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Q205100: Event IDs 4318 and 4224: WINS Database Missing or Corrupt

Article: Q205100
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): 4.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbnetwork kbsetup
Last Modified: 10-AUG-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 
- Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition version 4.0 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When you restart your Windows NT server that is running Windows Internet Name
Service (WINS), the following error message may be displayed:

  WINS could not come up due to missing/corrupt database. Restore the database
  using WINS Manager or winscl.exe (in the res kit) and then restart WINS. If
  WINS still does not come up, start with a fresh copy of the database. To do
  this:

  1) delete all the files in the %%SystemRoot%%\system32\wins directory.

  Note: if wins database file (typically named wins.mdb) is not in the above
  directory, check the registry for the full filepath.
  Delete the .mdb file.
  Note: if jet*.log are not in the above directory, check the registry for the
  directory path. Delete all log files.

  2) net start wins

  Please click on OK to terminate WINS.

Events have been registered in the Event viewer. To view these errors:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, and click on Administrative Tools (Common),
  and then click on Event Viewer. This procedure opens the System Log, where
  WINS errors may be logged.

2. Look under the Source column for "Wins" and search for the following Event ID
  numbers:

  EVENT ID 4318
  Source: WINS

  The Description area contains the same error message listed above.

  This also generates the following Event in the System log.

  Event ID 4224
  Source: WINS
  WINS encountered a JET error. This may or may not be a serious error. WINS
  will try to recover from it. If you continue to see a large number of these
  errors consistently over time (a span of few hours), you may want to restore
  the database from a backup. The error number is in the second DWORD of the
  data section below.

  -other related Events-

  Event ID 7022
  Source: Service Control Manager
  The Windows Internet Name Service hung on starting.

  Event ID 7023
  Source: Service Control Manager
  The Windows Internet Name Service terminated with the following error:

  Application Events generated in the Event Viewer Application log.

  Event ID 37
  Source: JET
  Unable to read header of database C:\Winnt\System32\Wins\Wins.mdb. Error -
  1811.

Also, when you attempt to start the WINS service manually, the following error
message may be displayed:

  Could not start the Windows Internet Name Service on \\computer_name;.Error
  0001:Incorrect function.

NOTE: If WINS fails to recreate, check to make sure that the root drive is not
full.

CAUSE
=====

This behavior occurs because the WINS database is corrupt or could not be found
in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Wins directory.

The error messages indicate that the WINS database is not running because of a
corrupt, missing, or renamed Wins.mdb file.

RESOLUTION
==========

To resolve this problem, replace the WINS database. This can be achieved in two
ways.

The first method is to restore the WINS database from a backup using WINS
Manager. WINS Manager has the capability to create WINS backups and restore WINS
backups. To do this:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, then point to Administrative Tools(Common).

2. Click on WINS Manager.

3. On the Mappings menu, click Restore Local Database, which is the only command
  listed. Restore Local Database is only accessible when the WINS database is
  unavailable.

4. A dialog box is displayed and prompts you for the path to the folder
  Wins_bak. If you have performed a WINS Backup Database procedure previously,
  locate the folder and set the path so that the WINS Manager is one level
  above the wins_bak folder.

  For example, if the wins_bak is at E:\Wins_bak then put the directory to E:\
  and click OK. WINS Manager locates the WINS.mdb file and restores it. You can
  then restart the WINS Service as described above.

The second method is to recreate the WINS database. To recreate the WINS
database, all the files in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Wins directory need to be
moved or archived to a new location.
To replace the WINS database files:

1. Click Stop Replication Partners in WINS Manager.

2. Stopping the WINS service is unnecessary, because it did not start when the
  errors listed above occurred.

3. Archive or delete the files in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Wins folder but do
  not delete the folder. (If you do delete the folder, simply recreate a Wins
  folder in this location. The folder is automatically created only when WINS
  is installed.)

4. Restart the WINS server. Windows NT automatically recreates the files and
  registers the services that the WINS server uses.

5. WINS clients in the environment then need to be restarted in order to
  register their services with the WINS database.

  If restarting the clients is not possible, you may still reregister the
  services in WINS.

  For more information, please see the following article in the Microsoft
  Knoweledge Base: For additional information, please see the following
  article(s) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q137423 How to Reregister Services in WINS

MORE INFORMATION
================

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

  Q185786 Recommended Practices for WINS

  Q150737 Setting Primary and Secondary WINS Server Options

  Q177140 How to Remove Static WINS Entries from All WINS Servers


Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbnetwork kbsetup 
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNT400search kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTSEntSearch kbWinNTSEnt400 kbWinNTS400search kbWinNTS400
Version           : :4.0
Issue type        : kbprb

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