When I go to edit my network connections and click the WINS tab, there is nothing there Enable LMHOSTS lookup and Enable Netbios are selected, but the WINS addresses list is empty. When I click OK, I get the alert: This connection has an empty primary WINS address. Do you want to continue? Do I need something there? What is it and what should I have there? I also have a DHCP server... thanks! Pisces_gw

The Microsoft Exchange Server Analyzer Tool queries the Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration Microsoft Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) class to determine whether a value is set for the WINSPrimaryServer key. If the Exchange Server Analyzer finds the value for this key on an Exchange server to be blank, a warning is displayed. Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange 2000 Server have several NetBIOS dependencies. Additionally, clients running versions of Microsoft Outlook that are earlier than Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 also require NetBIOS name resolution. For example, the following Exchange functionality depends on NetBIOS name resolution: • The Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange 2000 Server Setup programs, especially on clustered servers. • Exchange Mailbox Merge Wizard (ExMerge) on an Exchange Server 2003 or Exchange 2000 Server computer. • Changing a password for an Exchange Server 2003 or Exchange 2000 Server mailbox through Outlook Web Access. • Exchange System Manager on an Exchange Server 2003 or Exchange 2000 Server computer. This is how I would correct this problem. 1. Open Network Connections. 2. Right-click the network connection you want to configure, and then click Properties. 3. On the General tab (for a local area connection) or the Networking tab (for all other connections), click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties. 4. Click Advanced, click the WINS tab, and then click Add. 5. In TCP/IP WINS server, type the IP address of the WINS server, and then click Add. 6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each additional WINS server IP address you want to add, and then click OK. You can change the order of preference for WINS servers by using the arrow keys. 7. Make sure Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP is selected. 8. Click OK to save your changes. Always post back so we know how you did, or if I gave you some bad advice.

Reading your post a second time: You do know what your IP address is right? Always post back so we know how you did, or if I gave you some bad advice.

WINS is for translating netbios names to IP addresses .. Heres a link that might help you understand more about WINS servers.. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/plan/wins2000.mspx"><Click here Nicholas Costa

It's important to understand that WIN servers were invented due to the following reasons: 1. NetBios name resolution operated by broadcasts to every node on the LAN, and this created a lot of traffic on larger networks. 2. Since broadcasts could not traverse routers, you could only resolve NetBios names in your local LAN. When I first started reading about WINS, I didn't really get this, so I tried to set up such a server on my LAN - with 4 nodes! Of course it was totally unnecessary. Broadcasts work fine. Also, LMHOSTS is easy to set up and that is a file which does the same thing. It's just DNS for Windows NetBios names. Since LMHOST and broadcasts also do the same function, errors such as the one you received are not critical at all. You can actually set whether the Windows client uses broadcasts or WINS first, but it involves a registry hack. Here's the scenarios where you set up a WIN server: firstly, you have a need for Netbios name resolution AND 1. You have Windows 9x or NT workstations. 2. You have 2 or more LANs connected with a router. OR 3. You have large LANs (e.g. >30) which can't tolerate all the broadcasts 4. You have older applications which need reliable NetBios name resolution. Almost all LANs today run on pure TCP/IP, but it's worth also mentioning that WINS relates to only the TCP/IP protocol running underneath the NetBios programming system. In other words, if you don't have TCP/IP installed, you don't need WINS. Unless you have "NetBios over IP" enabled, then it is useless. NetBios alongside another protocol doesn't use it. For example, on pure NetBeui networks, there is no WINS.