DHCP Server Attempts to Assign Reserved Addresses

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This article was previously published under Q284145

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SYMPTOMS

Under certain conditions, on a scope with numerous exclusions and reservations, a Windows 2000 DHCP server may try to assign reserved addresses to non-reserved clients, and the following behavior may occur:

When a DHCP client requests an address that is not in the current scope, the Windows 2000 DHCP server sends a NACK to that address. The client then enters the Discover phase and asks the server to offer an address.
The server incorrectly offers a reserved address.
The client requests this address.
The server realizes that this is a reserved address for another client and sends a NACK to the client.

When the client receives this NACK, it re-enters the Discover phase. The server then incorrectly offers the next reserved address, the client requests it, and the server sends a NACK. DHCP clients that are running Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows 95 or Microsoft Windows NT stop after a few requests, but a Windows 2000-based client goes through this loop until it receives a valid address. In either case, the client is without a valid address for an extended period of time and becomes non-operational on the network.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260910 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/260910/EN-US/ ) How to Obtain the Latest Windows 2000 Service Pack

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

   Date       Time    Version        Size      File name
   --------------------------------------------------------
   5/31/2001  03:31p  5.0.2195.3649  270,608   Dhcpssvc.dll

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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Microsoft Windows 2000. This problem was first corrected in Windows 2000 Service Pack 3.

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MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about how to obtain a hotfix for Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

265173 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/265173/EN-US/ ) The Datacenter Program and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Product

For additional information about how to install multiple hotfixes with only one reboot, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

296861 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/296861/EN-US/ ) Use QChain.exe to Install Multiple Hotfixes with One Reboot

For additional information about how to install Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 hotfixes at the same time, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

249149 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/249149/EN-US/ ) Installing Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Hotfixes

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