Disabling site awareness for Windows Server 2003 or for Windows 2000 DFS in a Windows NT 4.0 domain

In a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 domain, when you use Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based or Microsoft Windows 2000-based computers for Distributed File System (DFS), clients receive a 5-second delay before they can access the DFS resource.

This problem may occur if the Windows Server 2003-based or Windows 2000-based DFS computer is unable to locate a Windows Server 2003-based or Windows 2000-based Active Directory domain controller to obtain a SITE referral to permit users to acquire resources that are closer on the network to the client that makes the request.

Windows Server 2003

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To bypass the DFS site discovery process in Windows Server 2003, you must set a registry key. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK
2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dfs\Parameters
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type DfsDisableSiteAwareness, and then press ENTER.
5. Double-click the DfsDisableSiteAwareness value, type 1 in the Value data field, and then click OK.
   
   Note Set this value to 0 (zero) to disable this functionality.
6. Quit Registry Editor.

Windows 2000

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To resolve this problem, Microsoft added new functionality to the DFS service in Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (SP4). To bypass the DFS Site discovery process in SP4, you can set a new registry key. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedt32 in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dfs
3. On the Edit menu, click Add Key, and then type Parameters for the key name. Leave the Class section blank.
4. Click OK.
5. Click to select Parameters.
6. On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then type DfsDisableSiteAwareness for the value name.
7. Choose REG_DWORD for the data type, and then click OK.
8. In the DWORD Editor window, type 1 in the Data box, and then click OK.
   
   Note Set this value to 1 to enable the new functionality. To disable the new functionality so that Windows 2000 returns to the default behavior of searching for Site Coverage, set this value to 0 (zero), or delete the DfsDisableSiteAwareness registry value.
9. Quit Registry Editor.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4.