DNS root hints reappear after being removed from in Windows Server 2003

When you use the DNS MMC snap-in or the dnscmd command-line tool to remove root hints from a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based DNS server, you may experience the following symptoms:

• The removed root hints appear to be removed
• The removed root hints reappear when you restart the DNS service
• You do not receive a warning that the root hints are not removed permanently

This issue occurs when you remove all root hints from a DNS server that is not a root server.

Note When a DNS server is not a root server, you must specify root hints in the form of at least one name server (NS) resource record, and you must indicate a root DNS server and a corresponding host (A) resource record for that root DNS server. Otherwise, the DNS server cannot contact the root DNS server on startup and cannot answer queries for names outside its own authoritative zones.

To work around this issue, disable using root hints on the DNS server. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.
2. In the console tree, locate and right-click the DNS server that you want to modify, and then click Properties.
3. In the DNS server properties dialog box, click the Forwarders tab, and then select the Do not use recursion for this domain check box.
4. Click OK to close the DNS server properties dialog box.
5. Close the DNS MMC snap-in.

This problem was first corrected in Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1.

For additional information about Windows Server 2003-based DNS server root hints, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: