LMHOSTS File Referenced in #INCLUDE Is Not Parsed at Startup by Windows 95/98 Clients

ID: Q233193

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0
Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Windows 95

SYMPTOMS

The LMHOSTS or text file referenced in #INCLUDE is not parsed at startup by Windows 95/98 clients. This may occur when the remote file does not have at least CHANGE permission for the Network or Everyone group.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem and allow the Windows 95/98 client to parse the remote file (referenced in #INCLUDE) at startup, do one of the following:

Give CHANGE permissions to the file for the Everyone or Network group.

Create a batch file that runs nbtstat -R after logon.

MORE INFORMATION

After you perform the procedure in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article, Nullsessions support is enabled and the registry entry specifies the directory that is shared.

Q121281 LMHOSTS #Include Directives Requires Null Session Support

The #INCLUDE statement is used as a way for administrators to have a centralized LMHOSTS file that clients parse. In this way, the administrator can edit one file on the server and the clients are then updated.

LMHOSTS File at the Client and Server Computer

The LMHOSTS file on the client has two entries. One entry for the server that the #INCLUDE statement references and then the #INCLUDE statement, which can reference a text or LMHOSTS file.

The remote file has the centralized list of entries.

When the remote file referenced in the #INCLUDE statement does NOT have at least WRITE permission for the Everyone or the Network group, the Windows 95/98 client parses its own LMHOSTS file, but does not parse the remote file. Directly after startup, run the following command from an MS-DOS command prompt: nbtstat -c The result shows (at a minimum) three entries for the server that contains the remote file, but not the contents of the remote file.

After the startup process is complete, it is possible to run nbtstat -R and then nbtstat -c and the remote file is then parsed.

If the remote file does have at least WRITE permissions for the Everyone or Network group, then both the entries in the local LMHOSTS and the remote file are seen with nbtstat -c at startup.

REFERENCES

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

Q121281 LMHOSTS #Include Directives Requires Null Session Support

Q102725 LMHOSTS File Information and Predefined Keywords

Additional query words:


Keywords          : 
Version           : WINDOWS:95; winnt:4.0
Platform          : WINDOWS winnt 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: August 8, 1999